I have to say, that this photo is extremely calming. It has the power to relax you and for a moment take you away from our modern day frenzied life. Great one John.
Happy to hear— thx Ed
I’m not likely to see a better shot than this today.
Thanks so much Ken
A photo with a soothing effect for every condition of life..
Thank you Ule for such a nice comment
The line of light brings life in it
Nicely said…
A romantic beauty!
Grazie. 🌟👋
The warm tones give this photograph the feeling of nostalgia. Nice work.
Thanks
Summer reverie perfected. 🙂 The light on the leaves is reminiscent of old Dutch landscapes.
Thanks 😊
Speaking of the Dutch, earlier today I was reading about the near-total absence of original Dutch tombstones in the Hudson Valley. Lots of theories, but no one is exactly sure what the reason is.
Interesting! Is one theory that they were small stones that disappeared over the years? I don’t know why I’m thinking that but they sure would go back a long way.
Small stones? Sort of yes; there’s some that suggest they may have used rough-hewn fieldstones (which would’ve been small enough to handle easily). Here’s the article I read:
I’ve been wandering through some posts relative to your ‘Hidden Summer’ post. Lest I get too sidetracked, I just skimmed the article – but thank you. Skipping to the end, I wasn’t surprised to see that burial grounds were being moved due to urban expansion and stones were lost. Europeans were used to conserving burial space. When we went to the town in Germany where my grandmother was born, the church cemetery was nowhere near large enough to hold all the people who attended that church over the years and died nearby. I was told there are layers. My ancestors are way down there somewhere. The Dutch, with their unusual landscape. so much of which was reclaimed from the sea, could have been very used to less permanent burial spaces. And using the land for agriculture might have been prioritized – or, if the Dutch settlers were long gone and a small church was in ruins, maybe it was converted to housing without people realizing there were burials underneath. So many possibilities, all going counter to our ideas about the importance of preserving the past.
Those rough, smaller stones – the article mentions footstones (didn’t know they had a name) and I remember seeing those from time to time – just a small stone with initials. The fact that some of the earliest stones would have been rough fieldstone carved crudely brings to mind the old slave cemeteries on the SC/GA coast.
That’s wonderful that you went to the German Church where your ancestors remains are located. Did you ever post anything about this? As you probably know, there’s an underground network of catacombs in Paris where the bones of over six million people were stored after running out of room for more burials. The centuries of growth, plagues, epidemics and what-have-you created an urban problem like no other.
One more – I have to stop! 😉 But look at this. An old Dutch cemetery in NJ, where the location of the original church isn’t even known is is said to have been destroyed in the Revolutionary War. Yet another way gravestones could disappear. I like the name, “Three Mile Run Cemetery.” It looks like a really interesting place. This is supposed to be a link – I hope it works – it’s a short article with photos on a Flickr page.
That is a GREAT find, a Dutch burial ground in New Brunswick. Those Dutch inscriptions are fascinating. Otherwise, the brownstone (sandstone) used here is very similar to 18c stones from New England, New York and LI. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it, but I’ve shot hundreds of details of tombstones over the last four years, but have only posted a few images from time to time (including this morning). There’s actually some folks in New England who have catalogued hundreds of carvers by name, which is another topic altogether.
We’ve spent a lot of time this summer following the Puritans around from one place to another. The stones dating from the 1600’s are scarce but they are out there. There’s one in East Hampton in fact, and several in Southampton.
I didn’t post about it – there’s a bigger story about this grandmother that I want to tell. I haven’t had the time (or energy?) to tackle it. I knew my mother’s mother well but this woman, my father’s mother, was not really part of my life. I met her once. I think she suffered from depression for many years, after losing her only daughter at 5 yrs old to cancer. I think it affected my father (no doubt!) and on through the generations. Why she emigrated is a mystery. There doesn’t seem to be any information about that. Apparently she came to the US alone at a fairly young age, from a small farming community. Then she met my grandfather, an immigrant from the same region, in Brooklyn. Good old Brooklyn! 😉 I’d like to post photos of the church and the farm where she lived along with this story and a few other photos but it takes time. It’s so much easier to post photos of what I’m seeing currently.
Re the New Brunswick cemetery – yes, I thought so! I know you’ve been interested in gravestones for a long time – I have, too – but didn’t know you’ve been doing so much with them recently. When you post, I hope you say a little about the idea of following the puritans, etc. That’s an interesting idea. And I have to mention the amazing Puritan Museum in Leiden – one of our best experiences in Europe. We just stumbled on it. Such a rich place. It added a whole other dimension to our own meager knowledge from school.
The elephant seal is back and we’re signed up to watch her this afternoon, otherwise I’d go on and on. 😉
JOHN TODARO 
Great photo ^^;
I appreciate that 👋 nice to hear from you again!
I have to say, that this photo is extremely calming. It has the power to relax you and for a moment take you away from our modern day frenzied life. Great one John.
Happy to hear— thx Ed
I’m not likely to see a better shot than this today.
Thanks so much Ken
A photo with a soothing effect for every condition of life..
Thank you Ule for such a nice comment
The line of light brings life in it
Nicely said…
A romantic beauty!
Grazie. 🌟👋
The warm tones give this photograph the feeling of nostalgia. Nice work.
Thanks
Summer reverie perfected. 🙂 The light on the leaves is reminiscent of old Dutch landscapes.
Thanks 😊
Speaking of the Dutch, earlier today I was reading about the near-total absence of original Dutch tombstones in the Hudson Valley. Lots of theories, but no one is exactly sure what the reason is.
Interesting! Is one theory that they were small stones that disappeared over the years? I don’t know why I’m thinking that but they sure would go back a long way.
Small stones? Sort of yes; there’s some that suggest they may have used rough-hewn fieldstones (which would’ve been small enough to handle easily). Here’s the article I read:
https://www.dodenakkers.nl/artikelen-overzicht/foreign-section/north-america/dutch-burial-grounds-in-america-history-and-survival.html
I’ve been wandering through some posts relative to your ‘Hidden Summer’ post. Lest I get too sidetracked, I just skimmed the article – but thank you. Skipping to the end, I wasn’t surprised to see that burial grounds were being moved due to urban expansion and stones were lost. Europeans were used to conserving burial space. When we went to the town in Germany where my grandmother was born, the church cemetery was nowhere near large enough to hold all the people who attended that church over the years and died nearby. I was told there are layers. My ancestors are way down there somewhere. The Dutch, with their unusual landscape. so much of which was reclaimed from the sea, could have been very used to less permanent burial spaces. And using the land for agriculture might have been prioritized – or, if the Dutch settlers were long gone and a small church was in ruins, maybe it was converted to housing without people realizing there were burials underneath. So many possibilities, all going counter to our ideas about the importance of preserving the past.
Those rough, smaller stones – the article mentions footstones (didn’t know they had a name) and I remember seeing those from time to time – just a small stone with initials. The fact that some of the earliest stones would have been rough fieldstone carved crudely brings to mind the old slave cemeteries on the SC/GA coast.
That’s wonderful that you went to the German Church where your ancestors remains are located. Did you ever post anything about this? As you probably know, there’s an underground network of catacombs in Paris where the bones of over six million people were stored after running out of room for more burials. The centuries of growth, plagues, epidemics and what-have-you created an urban problem like no other.
One more – I have to stop! 😉 But look at this. An old Dutch cemetery in NJ, where the location of the original church isn’t even known is is said to have been destroyed in the Revolutionary War. Yet another way gravestones could disappear. I like the name, “Three Mile Run Cemetery.” It looks like a really interesting place. This is supposed to be a link – I hope it works – it’s a short article with photos on a Flickr page.
That is a GREAT find, a Dutch burial ground in New Brunswick. Those Dutch inscriptions are fascinating. Otherwise, the brownstone (sandstone) used here is very similar to 18c stones from New England, New York and LI. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it, but I’ve shot hundreds of details of tombstones over the last four years, but have only posted a few images from time to time (including this morning). There’s actually some folks in New England who have catalogued hundreds of carvers by name, which is another topic altogether.
We’ve spent a lot of time this summer following the Puritans around from one place to another. The stones dating from the 1600’s are scarce but they are out there. There’s one in East Hampton in fact, and several in Southampton.
I didn’t post about it – there’s a bigger story about this grandmother that I want to tell. I haven’t had the time (or energy?) to tackle it. I knew my mother’s mother well but this woman, my father’s mother, was not really part of my life. I met her once. I think she suffered from depression for many years, after losing her only daughter at 5 yrs old to cancer. I think it affected my father (no doubt!) and on through the generations. Why she emigrated is a mystery. There doesn’t seem to be any information about that. Apparently she came to the US alone at a fairly young age, from a small farming community. Then she met my grandfather, an immigrant from the same region, in Brooklyn. Good old Brooklyn! 😉 I’d like to post photos of the church and the farm where she lived along with this story and a few other photos but it takes time. It’s so much easier to post photos of what I’m seeing currently.
Re the New Brunswick cemetery – yes, I thought so! I know you’ve been interested in gravestones for a long time – I have, too – but didn’t know you’ve been doing so much with them recently. When you post, I hope you say a little about the idea of following the puritans, etc. That’s an interesting idea. And I have to mention the amazing Puritan Museum in Leiden – one of our best experiences in Europe. We just stumbled on it. Such a rich place. It added a whole other dimension to our own meager knowledge from school.
The elephant seal is back and we’re signed up to watch her this afternoon, otherwise I’d go on and on. 😉
https://leidenamericanpilgrimmuseum.org/en
Another interesting link. Thanks 😊 I agree– accompanying text is generally a good idea with any post related to this topic.
Dreamlike, cinema like. Beautiful, peaceful feel to it.
thanks bro