Green Lawn Geese
Do you belong on this blog?
If you have ever walked across an uneven terrain of a sporatically-trimmed lawn, speckled with carved stones from centuries-past, and looked up at the trees above and listened to the singing birds and thought, “I have never seen anything more beautiful than this,” then . . . maybe.
Modern cemeteries are more gardens than just simple boneyards, as a quick perusal of a few cemetery homepages will reveal. Cemeteries are also noted birding hotspots, probably because of this garden-archetecture popular in recent centuries. Rare birds flock to the relative quitetude of these (often very large) solitary spots, as do the twitchers chasing them.
However, if either of these are the only reasons for which you enjoy an afternoon in a churchyard, then, frankly, this isn’t really the blog for you. You may enjoy some of the pictures and stories, but I’ll be fair and warn you now that it’s not going to be your thing.
This will be your thing if you are a card-carrying taphophile. What is a taphophile? It’s not a species of infant frog, if that’s what you’re thinking. From the Wikipedia:
Taphophilia is a passion for and enjoyment of cemeteries. The singular term is a taphophile.Taphophilia involves epitaphs, gravestone rubbings, photography, art, and history of (famous) deaths. An example of an individual’s expression of taphophilia is the character Harold in the movie Harold and Maude (1971).Taphophilia should not be confused with necrophilia, which is a sexual attraction to corpses.
That last part is particulary important. Taphophiles are not creepy and weird even if we do spend every weekend chilling in the local cemetery or driving out to visit a new one. So, card-carrying taphophiles, carry your card with pride and bookmark this site! If you aren’t a taphophile yet but think you could be . . . stick around and let us convert you!
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