On a Whim...

On a Whim Owen and I visited a cemetery.

I picked up Owen from a birthday party and on the way home we needed to stop by WinCo to get a few staples (milk and bread). As we were stopped at the light we noticed this cemetery. We were chatting about it, and actually saw two women go into it. So Owen says to me "Mom, lets go in there." Its surrounded by busy streets, this busy grocery store and a major highway. But curiosity got the best of me and I said "okay, after we get our stuff."
Saturday at this particular store is chaos! I couldn't even park close, I had to park in the parking lot as you first drive into WinCo's lane. Yeah, it was crazy busy I've never had to park clear out there before. But, that made it very convenient for us to visit the cemetery.

So we entered. I still can't believe there is a cemetery there. I never knew it and would have never discovered it, but I was going the opposite direction I usually go.

It totally felt like we were entering another world. The tombstones were very old, some of them were missing the top half where all the info is. I assume some vandals had knocked them off their base, moss was growing on them, I even saw a snail crawling up one. The ground was very uneven, it felt like your foot sunk a half an inch. I almost bolted like twenty times. But with all the traffic around it made me feel like others were there. (actually "others" were there, but living "others" is what made me feel okay hehehehe)
We made a few cool discoveries... like these were the oldest dates:

Fredrick Tanck died Nov. 3, 1900 at 54 yrs. (born 1846)

and

William A. Scott 89 yrs died April 3, 1908 (born in 1819)

and

J.S.H. Johnson died March 15, 1906 at 76 yrs old. (born in 1830)

Check out those DATES!

I stood on the old hill and looked around. I was thinking why here? Where I stood it was surrounded by busy traffic. I wondered what it looked like back then. Why this spot? So I turned around and thought maybe it was the view. But back then that little hill wouldn't have a view, it probably had dense trees or lush green stuff and blackberries. I felt like it was a special spot, so special that someone back in the days chose this specific piece of land to bury their dead.
But was sad that in 2008, I didn't even notice it and only on a whim did I come in. I'm glad we did go in. We looked at every single tombstone. I thought we were done and even said Lets go to Owen when out of the corner of my eye I noticed another tombstone off in the corner, on the rooty part of a hill. And this is who I found;

Mary Anderson

born December 14, 1825

Promoted August 23,1905

The word Promoted made me smile.

We discovered a garden snake.

We discovered tons of grasshoppers. This cemetery was jumping with grasshoppers. An unusual number for the Seattle area, yeah, that made me want to bolt...again.

So, even though it was on a whim. I'm glad Owen and I visited this little cemetery. I, for a moment traveled back in time. Trying to picturing Seattle in the early early 1900's. A couple of the tombstones said they were from England. I wondered what they thought of this country, wild and dense, when they arrived. I wondered if there work has been done. I kept saying to Owen "Way back when, they were walking right here, right where we are, a hundred plus years ago. "

So, next time your at WinCo by yourself or with a kid, or two...check it out. It was a nice experience. And now there is another element of scary when going to WinCo at night. A commentary is right over there!