Victory over laptop

Computer is functioning again; next step is to get all my Picasa tags back, because otherwise I'll have the huge task of going back over all my photos and tagging them + noting which have already been posted. Jeeze.


In the meantime, here's a gorgeous mosaic headstone (looks like a stylized menorah) from a small Jewish cemetery just outside downtown Houston:

P.S. Angel

This one comes from the Chappell Hill Masonic Cemetery and is another of my favorites. I didn't include it in the last post because it's so rich with content aside from angel representations. The whole headstone is an obelisk: the other sides that I photographed are rather bland in their imagery but this side...

We only know that thou hast gone,

and that the same relentless tide

which bore thee from us, still glides on,

and we who mourn thee with it glide.

The deceased is laid out on a funeral boat being guided over the water by an angel lightly touching the banner marked by a cross. A small torch lights the way.

A small Star of David tucked under the curve of the bow.

The other two faces of the obelisk:

The overall obelisk itself, rather fancy with the stylized drapery and flame:

But sadly, slighted damaged on the face that bears the epitaph:

Sacred to the memory of

my beloved wife,

Mary Ann Hudgins,

Born July 3, 1828,

Died Oct. 11, 1885,

Aged 57 yrs, 3 mos, 8 days

Angels

Obviously in cemeteries you're going to find a fair amount of religious imagery. This is a selection of some of the nice angel statues and carvings I've come across.

From St. Agnes Cemetery:

From Forest Hill Cemetery:

I love the giant feather. Here it is in its full context, with wide benches and a quote (Until the day break and the shadows disappear):

This next ornamental sphere is probably one of my absolute favorites:

A pair of angels outside a mausoleum's entrance: (The left one isn't too clear, thanks to the angle of the light.)

From the Chappell Hill Masonic Cemetery:

A sort of medieval-looking angel sitting on...possibly a casket/tomb or perhaps just a bench.

 

This stone for a Minnie Gregg Sharpton has an interesting prismatic shape, a semi-crouched angel, and a medieval-esque sort of flower.

Again, sorry for the angle of the lighting casting weird shadows. This one has a large-winged angel, but what really caught my eye was the name Mamie, which was also the name of my great-grandmother.

Related posts:
A few more names (first image, an angel from Assumption Cemetery)

Hand of God

Just a couple of stones from the Rome Cemetery in Rome, NY that depict the hand of God reaching down to, presumably, remove some souls.

First, a hand reaching down and lifting up...rings?

Full view:

Also notable about the above stone is that is for Lewis Wilcox who was "killed at the Battle of Fredericksburg."

Secondly, and seen on two headstones, a hand emerging from the clouds to roughly grab a flower.