Benner Cemetery, Late January

It was Friday, so I was off work. My husband and I had lunch out, followed by a full afternoon of errands in town. We realized part-way through the trip that he had forgotten his credit card and driver's license at home, so we took a timeout to walk to a little cemetery and regroup. (Hey, I'm the girl who locked the keys to his car in it at work the other day, so who am *I* to criticize?)

This is the cemetery we visited - Benner Cemetery, accessible by a muddy little trail through the woods, with parking along Shiloh Road, just off I-99. It is probably a 10-minute walk (or even less) from the parking lot to this cemetery. The grave stones are from the 1800s and include many Benners, Hoffmans, Sellers, Waddles, and Kephearts.

The cemetery is pretty small, and it is surrounded by a low stone wall, a bunch of gnarly trees, and a wooden fence. You have to climb a half dozen cement steps to enter it. I enjoyed framing a few shots of the grave stones through the trees, and you may see one of those in the extra photos. Around the cemetery is a huge field that I imagine the local hawks enjoy hunting in.

Now, I have to add this: It is peculiar that you can see bare ground at this time of year. Usually, in late January, there would be snow on the ground; sometimes, a LOT of snow. But January's temperatures have been a few degrees higher than usual, with below normal precipitation.

So for now, the ground is green instead of white. Perhaps if and when we get a decent snow, I'll return for more pictures there, because who doesn't love a cemetery covered in snow? (As a lover of cemeteries, I have to add that I find every season appealing there.)

By the time we'd had a sit, and I'd taken some photos, and he'd calmed down a bit, we came up with a simple plan that involved putting all of the afternoon's charges on MY credit card, which we would reconcile later. And so, recharged, we headed back into civilization to complete our mission.

The soundtrack song for this is a lesser known Sinead O'Connor tune, I'm Stretched on Your Grave.