Here are some photos of Hollywood Forever Cemetery I told you about in my last post...

Yes, that is a piano next the cyrpt.

This cross looked likes its made out of PVC pipe

This gravesite was huge. I guess this guy spent alot of time in his favorite chair.

Joey Ramone

This space is all for one family. Quite a spread if you ask me.

The majority of the graves seemed to be Jewish, Jewish immigrants to be exact. Many of the tombstones had their photos etched on the face. My favorite part of this cemetery is the Buddhist area. I feel more relaxed there. Don't know why though.

How many people do you know enjoys spending time at the cemetery? I can't think of anyone else but me, but I'm sure there are others like me - somewhere. Oh well, I don't feel like dwelling on it, because I do and if that makes me seem odd so be it. I actually really go to take pictures of the statuary. It is hard to find them anymore. These days most cemeteries switched to headstones that are flush with the lawn so it is easier to maintain, but in my opinion, it also makes them boring.

Today, I went to Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Cypress, California. It had a quite a few statues to take pictures of which is why I like to go. There were also many more community mausoleums which made me think of the many condos and apartments in the area. Hmmm, condo living alive and dead. I wonder if it is cheaper to be placed in a community mausoleum than a regular plot. Anyone know? There were also alot families there. Most were changing flowers and cleaning up the headstones... some sat in lawn chairs with umbrellas and children played in the area. I found that interesting... it was mainly Asian families not Caucasians who were there and I wonder if that is part of their culture. To be frank, I think most white people are uncomfortable around cemeteries. I do not know that for sure, it is just something I have observed. When I participated in the Day of the Dead celebration in San Francisco a few years ago there were mainly people of color there and the people representing the different religious views were definitely not mainstream Judea/Christian!

I think this so romantic!

Another beautiful romantic couple.

I found this article on Yelp about another Forest Lawn Location in Glendale that you might find interesting. I did because it shows me there are others who enjoy the cemetery environment.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/forest-lawn-memorial-parks-and-mortuaries-glendale

While driving around today my all time favorite song came on

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9U6URQSF6U

Anyone else have a favorite song? The first time I heard it was when I was 6 years old and it instantly was my favorite. At 6 years old!... I had a great ear for music even then, too bad my singing voice isn't.

Hope your day is fun and don't forget to laugh out loud!

xoxo Inge

Remember the saying "you can't take it with you"? Well, that is true but one can have a fancy place to spend enternity... for the right price.
This cemetary is definitely the most elaborate one I have visited. Especially the graves up on the hillside. The rest of it was a standard cemetary... graves had headstones flat on the grass so a mower could easily go over them. The fancier ones required a gardener's touch.

Can you see the three small black bowls? There is some type of food in them and it attracted all the crows. I think the food is part of a tradition in eastern religion... the food is intended for the departed to eat in the after life.

Check out the view! That blue area is the Pacific Ocean

This area contained many urns. It was quite nice and there were many benches around the cemetary where one could just sit with their thoughts.

I never heard it called "family estates" before. The rock with the sign "available" on it is actually an urn where one can spend eternity by a small babbling brook. I even saw 2 jack rabbits and a lizard playing in the area but they hid when they saw me coming with the camera.

Check out this real estate for the "dearly departed". May be you can't take it with you but you can have a fancy place to "rest in peace", if you have the cash.