Since we're on the subject of tombstones

Another one to add to the great debate over whether or not stones in Cottage Grove and River Falls came from the same source. By highway, there's some distance between us, but going down the Kinni to the St. Croix and then up the pass through St. Croix Bluffs Park, we could darn near be sister cities. Going to head to the library today to do some digging. Doggone Slinger has got me all distracted now.

Bonus-Cliff Mine

Perhaps one of the best places for true cemetery afficianados---the Cliff Mine Cemetery up in northern Michigan. No people around, a hike to get here, and, once done looking at the stones, rock piles to go hunt for native copper. Beautiful!

Only the Good Die Young

I'm a big fan of graveyards. Besides the art of the stones, and the interest in the rocks that were used to make them, cemeteries are tremendously tranquil and a great telescope into the past. One of the saddest things about the olds stones is how many kids died young. We were at a cemetery in Utah, and there was a string of four stones, all kids from the same family who died within a year of five. It leads me to wonder the circumstances of their death. Disease? Starvation? Parents? Many sad tales at the graveyard.