May 07 2013
Drinks & Death
Evening at the historic Little River Inn
I’ve been so busy with one thing and another that I totally forgot my own blog’s 12th birthday on April 20. Not to mention Star’s 5th birthday on Cinco de Mayo (5/5). Happy belated birthday to both of us!
On Friday, Monica texted me to suggest that Megan and I meet her for a drink that evening at Little River Inn. I checked with Megan and she was free, so we went to town and ran some errands and then headed to Little River.
Miss Star had come along for the ride, so we took her for a walk in the cemetery before we met Monica. We waved at our brother, who passed us as we were getting Star out of the car. I think it’s a very pretty place:
It’s not very big, but it’s peaceful and dotted with very old stones. You can walk all the way to the ocean if you know where to go. On this occasion, we just wandered around closer to the road since we didn’t have a lot of time before meeting Monica.
This stone commemorates someone with the remarkable name Dreeme Life Ball:
He or she died in 1917, so it’s not (as you might think) a hippie name. The stone bears the lovely inscription “To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die.” Tied for coolest name in the graveyard is Haskett Severance. I like the wheat sheaf:
Sadly, this lovely rose-carved stone commemorates Haskett’s only daughter, Mary Ella, who was only 16:
At the bottom of her stone, it touchingly reads “Though lost to sight, to memory dear.”
The Bretts, whose tomb is quite magnificent, lost all five of their children in the 1800s:
It must have been pretty hard up here in pioneer days. Sometimes I think about how it must have been for families back then. It’s still a relatively isolated area.
It was time to meet Monica, so we loaded Star back in the car and headed to the historic Inn. We perched at the bar and ordered drinks: a mojito for Megan and a Margarita for me. Monica soon joined us, and it was great to catch up on each other’s news and spend some time together.
As we headed home in the fading evening sun, I thought about how lucky I am to live in such a beautiful place, and to have such good friends- one of which is my sister,
5 Responses to “Drinks & Death”
I love to visit the graveyards, especially interesting as you have mentioned, the old stones where remarkable entries etched on some. Also a very quiet place to walk and meditate, thanks for the ride.
A big toast to yer blog and especially for appreciating what you have! It’s so easy to lose sight of what we have.
Like my old man (I say that with the utmost affection), I love cemeteries as well; go figure. It’s always so peaceful and it’s definitely interesting to stop and read the inscriptions.
Thanks! I’m glad you guys don’t think I’m morbid for enjoying cemetery strolls. Some years ago I wrote one about visiting the Sleepy Hollow cemetery, which inspired Washington Irving to write his “Legend of”. He borrowed the names Brom Bones and Katrina van Tassel from gravestones there.
I wasn’t too keen on graveyards back in the day, but after studying abroad in England and spending a fair bit of time exploring cemeteries and going on tours, I learned to really appreciate the older tombstones and the beauty, albeit somber.
I always loved wandering around graveyards in England, too, especially the really old ones.