Jim, Jackie, Cookie and the Old Kerosene Lantern invade the after dark, peace and serenity at the Massey Cemetery. Or, so it was intended……..
Would such a venture be a spontaneous event or would it have been premeditated? I feel as though too much consideration would have scuttled the undertaking from the start.
I’m uncertain just what got into our bonnets that evening, it was getting on towards dark and the familiar call to come inside and get ready for bed was imminent. You know how those summer evenings are when the sun goes down and sets somewhere up there far to the north on the western horizon and as children are blessed everywhere, you have an extra hour of “daylight!”
Although the cemetery was just down the road from Grannie’s house, getting out of calling distance was a definite extension of our everyday range. I don’t know what Jim and Jackie were thinking about for this little venture. I was thinking that we were going for a straightforward walk from Grannie’s, loop through the cemetery, and then head right back to the house on Taxahaw Road. I did NOT want to be out there roaming about in the dead, black of night. No pun intended, ha. You know when it’s really dark and there’s no moon and there’s just the stars to guide you. And you can’t see your hand in front of your face. There’s a good reason the Observatory, will build their facility just two miles from Taxahaw. See here.
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Well should we let Aunt Boots or Aunt Billie know about this venture? No, because they’ll just say no and make us come in. So, it’s the three of us and the Old Kerosene Lantern going for an expeditious walk just down the road through the cemetery and then right back to the house. Right? Right!
Well, back then, none of us had any experience with cemeteries. Not that experience was required. I guess what I’m getting at is the fact that a cemetery in the daytime is a pleasant, serene place that provides a quiet setting for one to contemplate just what eternity means and how one might internalize the concept. A cemetery after dark, well that was a whole different story.
I very much doubt that we three children truly appreciated the implications of being in the Massey Cemetery in the twilight hour. It was a familiar enough place just, literally right down the road. Perhaps a mile? We would visit there most every time we came to Taxahaw. To say hello to the folks we used to love and hug and folks we never knew. I guess, instinctively, we knew these folks with the familiar last names were kin and family. We wondered what they were like.
I’ve discovered over time that things that seem so right, so imperative, so important, so unquestionable, so you get the idea. These very things that were demanding our action while at home, seem less so the further we get away from home. So it was with we three adventurers. As we walked resolutely down the road with our kerosene beacon at hand, our pace seemed to wain somewhat. The enthusiasm for our evening adventure lessened. It felt as though something invisible was impeding our forward progress. Shall we take a break? No, let’s go on. OKAY!
So, we continued slowly. There’s Aunt Mary’s fence with William’s whirlygig. Consider this. Not a bit of motion out of that, stock still. And Grandma Cook’s old place just beyond the fence and behind the old magnolia. All is quiet, very quiet and still! Did we just see a faint light there within? It’s supposed to be empty, no one home. The glass in the windows is old and so it reflects light funny. Well the cemetery’s just beyond this turn. You can still just barely see the road leading in there. The white sand where the pavement quits gives it away. Just a little further. Oooo. What’s that? It sounds like a car coming this way. It’s coming down Grannie’s driveway. Oh, no. We’re going to catch it now!
Oh, whew, it’s only Rolfe. “You three youngin’s get in the car right now! Your momma said to come and get you and to not let you go into that cemetery. Now, put that coal lamp out and hop in the car.”
“We saw your lamp from the front porch and we saw you disappear down the road. We looked for you to come back and when you didn’t, well. You know there’s nothing going to hurt you in there, and I’ve been in there after dark,” Rolfe whispered, “but it’s no place for you kids.” “You have no business in there!” Rolfe added, just to make sure his point was made on us children. “You definitely don’t want to get spooked in there! It happened to me once, so for your own good, stay out of there after dark!”
To be continued……..
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