Columbia Cemetery

I have a strange love for graveyards. I can't explain it I have always felt this way.They don't scare me, although I wouldn't want to spend the night in one! I mean the people have all moved on right? The atmosphere in a cemetery is always peaceful and still even when there are "living" tourists rambling around the tombs. I am lucky to have a husband who enjoys visiting graveyards as well and as a result we often end up with more photos of graves than anything else. I have been trying to focus on the ones that really speak to me in some way. On our recent trip to Portland Oregon we stopped at Columbia State Park, a fascinating place with a fantastic cemetery.

I am sure that when they dug this grave it seemed like a beautiful spot, right between those two trees but they have grown a lot since 1883 and now the roots are lifting the grave up.

There are elaborate iron fences

and humble little white crosses

I have decided over the years that I don't like plastic flowers at grave sites. It takes away some of the tombstones historical dignity. Nothin' looks worse than faded plastic flowers on a grave.

The view from one side of the cemetery is the back of the school. The older students went to class upstairs and the younger ones downstairs.I was amazed at the height of those steps, they were so steep, and people were shorter back then! I wonder what it was like to have a graveyard right behind your classroom?