Hollywood has made cemeteries seem scary, but really, they are lovely, peaceful places. It’s usually quiet and there are some fantastic pieces of art in the older ones. If they’re not too weathered, you can also read the epitaphs engraved on the stones. Sometimes it is only a name and a date, but often there is a short verse or remembrance about the deceased. And sometimes, they are hysterical.
These are some real (as far as I can tell) ones:
Sir John Strange
Here lies an honest lawyer,
And that is Strange.
On Margaret Daniels grave at Hollywood Cemetery Richmond, Virginia:
She always said her feet were killing her but nobody believed her.
On the 22nd of June
– Jonathan Fiddle –
Went out of tune.
In Memory of Beza Wood
Departed this life Nov. 2, 1837 – Age 45 yrs.
Here lies one Wood
Enclosed in wood
One Wood
Within another.
The outer wood
Is very good:
We cannot praise
The other.
Here lies Johnny Yeast. Pardon me for not rising.