Little Cemetery Angel

Pine Level Cemetery 1865

The other afternoon, as I was driving down a country road, I happened upon this entrance.  Naturally, I had to stop and explore.

There was a quiet beauty — even with many of the headstones and plots in disarray — about this old cemetery.  As I took my time walking around, birds were singing and the sunlight danced through the mature trees.  Azalea bushes, now in full bloom, added patches of bright pink to the landscape.

 

The ground was mostly carpeted with fallen leaves and moss, but here and there I spotted wildflowers and tiny mushrooms popping up.  Simple beauty among the decay.

 

I noted the diversity in the size and elaborateness of the headstones.  Some were grand but most were simple.  Those that have been there for decades were weathered and worn, covered in lichen.The inscriptions on the tombstones were sometimes sad (One read “my darling baby” with birth and death dates only a few months apart) but inspirational as well.   Some commemorated soldiers who served in the Confederacy and the Spanish American War.

All in all, an interesting day, with the images I captured quite different from my norm.