Another Trip to the Langley Cemetery

In our bi-weekly visit to Whidbey Island, we again visited the cemetery. Our routine is now that E buys us a sandwich at the Star Store (a kind of general store in the town center) and we find a nice place to eat in the car. Once again, this delightful cemetery was at the top of our list. So peaceful.

On this day, we were once again subjected to smoke from Oregon fires and a really thick fog. Although the fog had cleared some by the time we got here in early afternoon, the light was still quite flat. This meant that I could find images with more subtle color and light variations.

Even the more traditional gravestones seem more elegant and stately here where the placement of graves appears to be more scattered than in a rigidly maintained cemetery.

But by far my favorite image is the one of the stone for Donald McLeod who died at age 3 in 1907.

There are several methodist preachers buried here. This one is clearly one of the first in this area.

This stone, propped up with a stick of wood from behind is, as you surmise from the imagery, that is a child. The small metal marker that you can't quite read on the left says "Clifford T. Stambaugh, 1958 - 1958".

Here is another of the gravesites adorned with a living tree. I do find this to bring a stark beauty to the grave and really shows a kind of strength and peace that is seldom seen in other sort of decorations. Yet, I  do wonder what people think is going to happen in 20 years when the tree is the size of the one to which the small tree is currently tied. Perhaps their intention is that the roots invade the coffin and consume the inhabitant so that they become, again, part of the land they loved.