cemetery walks and the melancholia of life

It was a busy day at work yesterday. It’s been busy all week, and my absence from here shows. Between the nonstop flow at work and then walking after work, by the time I get home and get dinner cooked I’m just ready to melt into the couch and watch a couple episodes of something before crashing around 9pm. I want to grab my laptop and write, but my brain pretty much has closed shop for the night.

Yesterday was particularly busy at work. By the time I clocked out I’d already walked 4 1/2 miles just traversing through the plant, but I still felt like I needed to decompress from the day, so I drove to my favorite spot in town, parked, and made my way through the Beyer Trail and the wetlands walking path. This led me over to Pike Lake, then I cut into Oakwood Cemetery.

I’ve talked about Oakwood Cemetery before here, but I guess I’ll talk about it a little more. It’s the main cemetery in my hometown. It has grown exponentially over the years(people die everyday, so I guess that’s why), and it still has plenty of room for expansion for the future dead. It’s shaded in much of it, which makes it a perfect spot to walk, listen to music, and contemplate life in general. What better place to contemplate life than the permanence of the home for the dead?

There is a peace walking amongst the tombstones, in a bittersweet sort of way. I ran into a few that I knew before they took up permanent residence in Oakwood. I said my peace and moved on. These monuments to both the nearly departed, as well as those who’ve been planted among the hovering maples and oak trees for decades, are like advertisements to lives that once were.

While death is never an easy road to traverse, when you see someone lived a good 80+ years it does feel like they managed a good chunk of time on this earth. You hope they made the most of their nearly century stomping around on this rock. It’s the ones that barely made it a year or 5 that make your guts sink deep into your body. There were so many small children that passed on early in the 19th and early 20th century. No vaccines for things that have been eradicated now for 50 years; measles, mumps, Polio,…and now you have people denying kids today from these vaccines. We’re having deadly measles outbreaks happen again because of misinformation and stupidity.

But hey, that’s just my thoughts. We all have thoughts. Some are reasonable, some not so much.

By the end of my walk I’d gotten nearly 9 miles and over 16,000 steps in for the day. I reached my car and was happy to sit down for the drive home. Despite my barking dogs, I felt pretty great. I evened out the work walking with some contemplative walking. I conversed with those long gone, paid my respects to those I knew in life, and worked some things out mentally, physically, and emotionally. The sun put some sweat on my brow, and I thanked it.

It’s Friday. Another work week nearly in the rearview. I have one more full week of work then we leave for the southern shade of Brown County for a week of meditation among the Nashville, Indiana woods and spending time with our kids and their significant others. I’m very much looking forward to hot tub time overlooking crisp, green trees. Enjoying the trails of McCormick Creek State Park, Brown County State Park, maybe a trip to Bloomington and a visit to Landlocked Records, and of course quality time as a family. Plus I get to meet our oldest’s pooch Dottie.

Tomorrow morning I’ll brew some coffee then head to Indianapolis to help my son and his girlfriend move from their old apartment to their new one. They’re going from a two-bedroom to a one bedroom. We gave them money for movers so they could get the big stuff like washer/dryer, dressers, tables, beds, etc…, so hopefully we’re just moving boxes by tomorrow.

Sometimes life is a shitstorm, and you’re stuck in the middle of it without even a mediocre shelter. But more often than not life is pretty damn good; clear skies, big hugs, big laughs, and a whole lot of love to go around.

Happy Friday.