Van Tour

The van tour was terrific.  Weather was perfect: bright sunshine, with just a nip of coolness early on, and very warm later.  Picked up Aline, then joined Barb H. and Pat G., her sister, who drove to Wells Mills Park, where we always get the van.
Along with ten other congenial van-mates, we were driven by German ("Jar-man"), our favorite naturalist, to a number of small, out-of-the-way graveyards in the pinelands of southern Jersey.  Some were next to old churches, others hidden in the woods, but all contained fascinating glimpses of those who went before. 
We were charmed by a cemetery that included pets--"Babe" and "Smurf"--animals faithful to their owners and loyal to the end.  Of course, some of the most poignant graves were those of children.  One stone of the McKeen family listed "George T." three times, with dates for each that were heart-breakingly short (see picture above).  I wonder if that sad young mother ever succeeded in keeping a little "George T."
We ate our lunch at a pavilion in Green Bank, a lovely little hamlet next to the Wading River.  The views were spectacular and tucked away down a country road was a tiny graveyard enclosed by an iron fence. At another site, we were greeted by an elderly "tour guide" named Steve at a graveyard high up on a hill and within sight of a beautiful lake.  This was his family's cemetery and he pointed out his great-grandmother's grave and many others.  Most of the tombstones listed dates from the 18th and 19th centuries, but his brother, who died in 2002, was there, too.  Outside the fence and scattered among the trees, were old, old stones on which dates were obliterated.
We visited two, very tiny graveyards for African-Americans, from the days when even death was segregated.  One had homemade concrete stones marked simply with names and dates via a sharp instrument.            
With a few exceptions, the graveyards we saw are no longer in use.  But others are, of course, and one is waiting for all of us.