[at-l] You have to wonder

[Arthur Gaudet]

3 years ago, when visiting Indiana & Ohio, I had a chance to spend time in the
Bloomington cemeteries near Felix. For those who do not know, this is an area
covered with stone quarries and with a strong heritage of stone cutting. The
cemetery monuments are truly impressive, esp. those created by the cutters for
their own family members. The rock is a type of Salem Limestone called Indiana
Limestone, and Bloomington has what some consider the finest quality limestone
in the US. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana_Limestone for more info, the
stone has been used in the Pentagon, the Empire State Building and of course the
entire campus of Indiana University.

Those on the list with access to VT might be aware of similar cemetery stones
near Barre, VT where the quarry "Rock of Ages" is located. The stone in VT is a
high-quality granite.

What a shame, it seems, that locals aren't aware of what's in their own
backyards. I don't know if Felix's family stones are of the same caliber as the
artists' monuments, but still there should be more respect for a craft (art?)
that the region can/should look on with pride.

For movie buffs: "Breaking Away" (1979) has views of the quarry swimming holes
that I didn't get to see. The movie is about the Indiana University Little 500
bicycle race. I returned home with a pile of T shirts that say "Cutters" on them
to pass to my friends. Cyclists in the area sometimes know what it means! 

--RockDancer

Subject: [at-l] You have to wonder


> There's a little graveyard less than a mile from here. There are about a
> hundred bodies buried there. Some were buried in the early 1800's. Some,
> three, were close relatives of mine. I'll be buried with them some day.
> You can imagine  the sadness, disappointment, anger...you can pick the
> emotion...I experienced the other day when my uncle and I discovered
> that somebody found it would be fun to knock over about 50 of the
> tombstones, including that of my grandfather.  The salt in the wound was
> applied when I went back a few days later only to find another 10 or 12
> knocked down. The one that really hurt me, deep inside, though, was the
> beautiful, little, marble marker, about 18" tall, that was pulled from
> the ground and smashed over another stone. The name can't be made out.
> But, the year of death was 1829. And, nearly 200 years later, somebody
> felt the need to spend one second and smash it all away.
>
> -- 
> Felix J. McGillicuddy
> ME-->GA '98
> "Your Move"
> ALT '03 KT '03
> http://Felixhikes.tripod.com/
>