Sunday 15 August 2010

In the midst of life

I've had a conversation today about my mother's ashes, read an article about the heroic war exploits of the father of our former butcher (best pork chipolatas ever!) with a photo of his grave in Malaysia, and contemplated going to see Cemetery Junction: so clearly that's today's link.

This cemetery is in Mauritius, at Mahebourg on the east coast. I like cemeteries. They're so much the same everywhere that the differences stand out better, and it's always interesting to wander through them. At this one there was a number of tombs, one of which was being opened with a fair amount of chatter and hammering as the seal was broken around the big stone in the front. There certainly wasn't any hushed respect or apprehension: it was just a job that needed to be done. Part of life. It reminded me of a man I met in Rarotonga, who was busy building a tomb for himself and his wife, just metres from their home. He was doing a nice job installing halogen spotlights and fancy handles on the door.
What I particularly liked here were the glazed china wreaths on many of the crosses: I hadn't seen them before, and they were pretty. Pansies and roses seemed to be popular.

I also liked the standard wording on the gravestones. 'Ici repose...' Sounds so much more restful than 'Here lies...' doesn't it?

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