I spent the day today taking pictures of graves at a nearby cemetery.  Why on earth would I do something so morbid, you ask?  Well, if you knew me, you would know that I am a morbid person anyway.  The obituaries page is the first thing I read in a newspaper.  The comics section is the second, but that's besides the point.  But my fascination with death has nothing to do with it.

For some time now, my wife and I have been volunteer photographers for a website called FindAGrave.com.  This is a wonderful place to go for people who want to view pictures of the graves of loved ones, see where famous people are buried, or just remember those who have passed on.  You can even place virtual flowers and messages on a person's page.  Now, some may be wondering why people would want to do these things.  But think about it.  Eventually, all of us will die.  I know, I know, you think you will live forever, but--I'm sorry to break it to you--you won't!  This mortal life ends for everyone, and we will all end up being stuffed into a hole in the ground somewhere while our spirits wing their way to the Afterlife.  Each gravestone, therefore represents a real person, someone who was once a thinking, breathing individual, complete with hopes and dreams, likes and dislikes, joys and pains.  For most people, especially those who die young, the gravestone is the only existing proof that they lived at all.  And nobody wants to be forgotten.

So my wife and I have made it our mission to help people not be forgotten.  As a volunteer, you can have FindAGrave notify you when someone has requested a photo of a gravesite nearby.  On your account page, you put your ZIP code, and the system will send you requests that are within about 50 miles of the ZIP.  You can choose to accept it or not.  You can also do what we do, which is look on the site to find out which cemeteries are listed, and which are not.  Frequently, we find that a cemetery nearby is either not listed or there are not many grave photos on file.  So when we have a little spare time, we go to that particular cemetery and snap some pictures.  You'd be amazed at how little time it actually takes to take a few dozen pictures.

When you begin taking pictures of gravestones, you may find that most stones are not kept up very well, especially if you are taking pictures in an old cemetery. The cemetery I went to today, which is Fairview Cemetery in Cheney, Washington, is quite old.  Some gravestones date all the way back to 1830.  Most of the gravestones were either badly weathered, or broken, or covered in different varieties of moss.  You'll also find some stones covered in weeds, or buried under bushes, low tree limbs, or even layers of dirt.  So I always try to bring some tools with me, like gardening clippers, several rags, water, and a knife.  The knife is for scraping away the most difficult patches of moss, and for digging moss and dirt out of the names and dates on the stones so that they can be read.  You gotta be careful when scraping with a knife, though.  A lot of the older stones are very soft, and can be easily scratched, so it's best to just use a rag and some water.  I'm by no means an expert at gravestone cleaning, but these are a few things which have worked for me.

So instead of lazing around in front of the boob-tube, get out there and take some pictures of some graves!  You'll be helping the living to remember their dead, as well as making sure the dead are not entirely forgotten!