end of the season

Strolling through Mt. View Cemetery last week, I spied a number of graves decorated with Christmas trees.  I was both surprised and touched by the gesture.  Families continue to miss those who have died and want to share, as best they can, this season with their loved ones.

holiday reflection

This is part of the annual holiday lights display at Mt. View Cemetery.  Linked to Weekend Reflections.

Skywatch Friday: autumn display

The weather reports keep saying rain, but so far not.  Today the sky is a little cloudier but the autumn leaves are still with us.  We're not exactly Vermont, but colors can be found if you know where to look.  Linked to Skywatch Friday.

R is for Rooz Cafe

One of my favorite coffee houses.  An easy walk from the house, usually open tables, low noise, rotating art shows, and a great tuna salad sandwich.  What's not to like?  The fact that it just closed.  Supposedly another coffee house will open in its place.  There's another Rooz in town but that means getting in the car and driving.  I'd rather walk.  Linked with ABC Wednesday.

autumn decorations

Signs of the season.

Halloween parade

The annual Piedmont Avenue Halloween Parade is the Saturday before Halloween.  Adults have as much fun (or more) as the kids dressing up and walking about.  Last year Frida Kahlo was seen on the Avenue more than once.  I guess the unibrow was a popular look.  This year it was all about fairies.

Sara Lemmon

More California history found at Mt. View Cemetery.  Linked to Taphophile Tragics.

J is for Japanese cuisine

Japanese food is popular in the Bay Area and there are many choices for such restaurants in Oakland.  As in San Francisco, the Japanese restaurants in Oakland appear to be run by Issei, first generation immigrants.  They bring with them traditional recipes and a dedication to only the freshest ingredients.  Linked to ABC Wednesday.

I am well, Mother

Louisa Kohler was only 5 years old when she died in 1854.  Her parents erected this monument on her grave showing her sleeping on a bed with her faithful dog at her side.  The side of her grave marker is engraved with the above line.  Linked to Taphophile Tragics.

Taphophile Tragics: Fred Korematsu

Fred Korematsu was born in Oakland in 1919.  After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Executive Order 9066 was instituted which orchestrated the removal of all Japanese (including American citizens) to relocation camps in the Southwest deserts.  No due process hearings were held, no trials were held, and no distinction was made between loyal citizens and possible supporters of the Japanese Empire.  The property they left behind was either guarded by faithful friends or often stolen by unscrupulous neighbors.  Fred protested these actions and went into hiding as an act of resistance.  He eventually was caught and sent to Topaz, Utah.  The legality of the internment order was upheld by the United States Supreme Court.  He ultimately returned to Oakland to raise his family.

Korematsu's conviction was overturned in the 1980s after the disclosure of new evidence, challenging the necessity of the Japanese internment, which had been withheld from the courts by the U.S. government during the war.  These documents revealed that the military had lied to the Supreme Court, and that government lawyers had willingly made false arguments.  His adult children were shocked to learn of their father's activism and early legal battles as he never talked about it after the courts upheld his conviction of resisting the internment orders.

In 1998 Korematsu was awarded the Medal of Freedom by President Bill Clinton.  Later in life Korematsu reinvigorated his social activism and advocated for rule of law and the protection of immigrant rights, especially for Muslim citizens post 9/11.  Recently the Smithsonian announced the inclusion of Korematsu's portrait in the museum's collection.

Korematsu died in 2005 and is now buried in Mt. View Cemetery with a large granite rock marking his grave.  The flowers laid at the right side of his tombstone include a note of thanks from an admirer who was inspired by the history of Korematsu's civil rights struggles.  His life work is admired by area progressives, but he remains largely unknown to local citizens.

Linking to Taphophile Tragics.

Taphophile Tragics: humble grave marker

Across the road from Lucrezia, is another child's grave with a much humbler marker.  This child lived only 8 months.  It looks as if his parents could not afford a stone marker so made their own.  The punched metal plate gives his name and date.  It is set in a wooden frame that forms a cross and is attached to a metal pipe that is driven into the ground.  The whole thing, almost 100 years old, is fragile and falling apart.   This one is so sad on so many levels that I can barely look at it.  For other cemetery wanderings, visit Taphophile Tragics.

I'll be away for a week, and will do my best to leave a comment here and there.

Taphophile Tragics: Lucrezia

So many graves at St. Mary's Cemetery are of Italian and Portuguese immigrants.  This one is by Our Darling, posted two weeks ago.  Little Lucrezia died shortly after her 1st birthday.  To my surprise, there is a portrait plaque on her headstone.  I've never seen one for a child this young.

One glance and you can tell she was a much loved and pampered child.  Those little pom poms on her cap are too darling for words.  Seeing her face, and knowing the love her parents must have felt for her, intensified my sense of sadness at her early death. She looks so healthy; what could happen to have death claim her so early?

For more cemetery wanderings, visit Julie's Taphophile Tragics.

Taphophile Tragics: shh!

Walking around Mt. View the other day, I spotted this grave marker.  I was attracted by the hearts and musical notes which I haven't seen anywhere else.  Then I noticed Eleanor's heart.  She must have made it very clear that she did NOT want her birth year made public.  The way it was handled is like a wink and a laugh from the grave.  I bet she was a lot of fun at a party.  I found no information on either her or her husband.  For more cemetery wanderings, visit Taphophile Tragics.

Taphophile Tragics: Qingming

This weekend Mt. View Cemetery hosted Qingming, a traditional Chinese festival where families honor their dead and tend their graves.  Many families were at the cemetery cleaning the grave sites and leaving offerings to the ancestors.

I saw family groups lay out food, light incense, and perform ritual bows and prayers.  While I would have liked to photograph these ceremonies, it would have been too intrusive.  Instead, I offer these as witness to the families' devotions.  For more cemetery wanderings, visit Taphophile Tragics, hosted by Julie at Sydney Eye.

Taphophile Tragics: Spring has sprung

As I've mentioned before, Mt. View Cemetery is treated like a public piazza by the local community.  Every day you'll find people jogging, walking their dogs, having picnics, practicing their instruments, and wandering about with their cameras.  The cemetery itself hosts several events across the year.  The Spring event is the Tulip Festival.  Visitors come to admire the thousands of tulips planted each year by the cemetery.  One of the local chapel buildings also hosts floral displays presented by various florists and garden groups.  This event always signals that finer weather is on its way.

For more cemetery wanderings, visit Taphophile Tragics.

you lookin' at me?

Don't even think of messing with this truck.

I'll be out of town for several days, and may not be able to leave comments.  Post provided through auto-posting.

Taphophile Tragics: poetry, death and living

Last week I wandered upon a monument in Mt. View Cemetery I had not seen before.  A husband and wife are memorialized with each having written a poem for the other.  Both are quite touching and express such love for each other.  If you enlarge the photos you can read the poems.

 

When I went home, I googled them, and much to my surprise, they are both still alive and quite active in the local poetry community.  This is an example of what the industry calls a "pre-need" monument.  While initially striking me as eccentric, I see the complete practicality of it all.  If you've got the money, why not do it now?  After all, it only will be more expensive later.  And you get to pick the spot yourself.  Not to mention, you express your love and wishes while living.  Something to think about.

Submitted to Taphophile Tragics, where you'll find more cemetery musings.

I'll be out of town for several days, and may not be able to leave comments.  Post provided through auto-posting.

Weekend Reflection: restaurant lights

These yellow paper lanterns really spoke to me.  Their reflections is the window was a bonus.  Shimizu Restaurant on Piedmont Avenue.  For more reflections visit James's meme Weekend Reflections.  Also linked to City Daily Photo's Theme Day, electricity.  Click here to view thumbnails for all participants.

Neo-Romanesque tombs

More shots from Mt. View Cemetery.  This is a series of family tombs designed by architect Henry Hobson Richardson.  He included elements of Romanesque architecture in his structures.  For some reason, I think of beehives when I see them.  Although they look identical, there are subtle differences between the buildings.  These mausoleums house prominent San Francisco families beginning with scions who died near the turn of the 19th century.  Even for San Franciscans, Oakland's Mt. View Cemetery was THE place to be buried.  More detailed information can be found at Lives of the Dead, which tells the tales behind the tombs.  Linking today to Julie's Taphophile Tragics.

tiles at night

Spotted outside of the gates of Mt. View Cemetery.