Cemeteries and Al Green

I've been sitting on this topic for a week- since I read/looked at this Buzzfeed article and watched a new PBS special about African American funeral traditions called Homegoings. I took both as inspiration and a sign. (A sign that I'm a total weirdo.)

One of my favorite words is macabre. Working in an art-among-other-things museum, I hear a lot of good (read: bad) descriptions for art pieces. If you say "That painting/sculpture/photo is so macabre..." you'll either sound like a genius or an idiot. I like to take the risk.

He's whispering, "Don't you think those waves are rather macabre?"

But my favorite macabre art galleries are cemeteries. Weird, I know, but just go with me for a minute. They are like really peaceful gardens, most of the visitors just happen to be dead. I don't usually find myself spending my free time wandering through a cemetery, but if I do I can't help but get sucked into the history. Especially in cemeteries with really old or interesting (or both) headstones. Sure, it's a little creepy, but that's part of what I like about it.

When my parents were visiting a few years ago, we went to the Eklutna Historical Park. One of the main features of the park is the cemetery. After the Russians came to Alaska, the Dena'ina (Alaskans native to the Anchorage-area) began to covert to Russian Orthodoxy, and with the conversion came new burial traditions. Instead of cremating their dead, they built spirit houses. (You can read more about it here. Side note - Aaron Leggett happens to be one of my coworkers.) The spirit houses are great - brightly colored, intricate, and many have features to represent the person buried there. What a fabulous way to honor your dead.

This week's hot jam is Let's Stay Together by Al Green. It's a well known-ish fact that I intend to use the lyrics to I Swear as my wedding vows. But Let's Stay Together is a close second.  I mean, it was added to the Library of Congress in 2010 for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." If it's good enough for the LOC, it's good enough for me. (Fun fact: I applied for a job at the Library of Congress when I graduated from college with the sole intention of National Treasure-ing that place.)