Today I had an early afternoon appointment with Pacifico Ford to get our cargo van serviced. New tires (82,000 miles on two of them which is great) inspection and all that. It was going to take the bulk of the afternoon so I brought my bike. At the last minute it dawned on me that Mt Moriah Cemetery was only about one mile away. This is a place that I have been visiting, photographing and volunteering at for the past 32 years. My customer service agent told me they were understaffed, so could I please be patient today. That was my cue to go. I hadn’t been in some years and I’m on the Facebook group and try to keep up and stuff so I was excited to see it. I visited the grave of my old friend and neighbor Tony next to the gatehouse. I also revisited a plot that I worked on restoring 9 years ago. I set out to find the grave of the Philadelphia architect Samuel Sloan. I found his plot, and I hope to discuss this adventure in the next post or two. After spending an hour taking photographs and exploring, I found a lost garden clippers on the ground, rusty and forgotten, in an area that volunteers had worked on previously.
A serendipitous moment!
I decided to do some work with the clippers and clear out a gravesite from invasive vegetation. I found the perfect plot and set to work removing the invasive Japanese Honeysuckle, *Lonicera Japonica* and the bittersweet vine. Also some problematic grape vines, all of which I methodically pulled out by the roots. The rusty clippers got more agile with use and I was able to work with them effectively. It was fun, and hopefully my efforts will help the more regular volunteers who will now not have to worry about this one and get other stuff done.
This Cemetery is still in a state of ruin and may be for a long time yet!
After pulling the vines away from the tombstones I could read the inscriptions and it tells a very sad story. This family definitely needs to have someone do a little bit of care on their gravesite plot after so many years of neglect!
After an hour and a half I was done and ready to go back to the Ford dealership. I had no idea any of this would happen this morning when I set out to bring the van in. This is serendipity at its best, how I want to roll!
A great day.
