“It is the time
you have wasted for your rose
that makes your
rose so important.”
~Antoine de
Saint-Exupéry
The Little Prince
 |
| Monroe's restored grave site, Hollywood Cemetery |
Saturday was the 5th Annual Rose Pruning
and Maintenance Day at Hollywood Cemetery. This year, on the way there, I heard
(Nothing but) Flowers by the
Talking Heads. I see signs, not coincidences.
I wrote about my first year volunteering
here;
and, last year, I wrote about my experience here. This
year I had a larger group made up of the River City Cemetarians,
a Meetup group that I started last year. I also had some of the same roses
as I did last year, including the Burkholder rose. Overall, Saturday's event felt like a reunion. Some of the volunteers are "friends" I only see once a year now but during the lunch portion of the volunteer event we get to catch up.
The weather was absolutely perfect. It started out in the high 40s with rain clouds and ended in the low 60s with this beautiful blue sky.
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| View of the James River from Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond, VA |
One rosebush that I helped care for is on the grave of Emma Trainer Burkholder. Last year I did some research after rose day and learned a little bit about the individuals buried in the plots with roses.
Last year I wrote,
“I learned that Mrs. Burkholder, who was born in Illinois and somehow made her way to Richmond, VA, was a member of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Her ancestor who fought in the American Revolution came from Switzerland. I also learned that the Virginia Historical Society actually has a collection of records including a death certificate and a family Bible that belonged to her family. I’d like to investigate some more to find out more about her inscription, “Music is born of love.” But we don’t find out everything about a person on the first encounter so I have a bit of work to do to learn more.”
But, I haven’t made time to learn more so I am adding this to my to-do list. Now that I have been taking a course on Historic Collections and Archives, I feel much more confident going through these records. Also, her rose was weedwacked by a member of the landscaping crew so this year I want to try to give it some extra care. Last year I went by to water it a few times during the hottest days of summer. This year I might need to add a bit of fertilizer, or something! If you look at the pictures from last year (see last year's post) compared to those from this post, well, that rosebush is looking sad.
Again, I have to add that the Friends of Hollywood Cemetery are great hosts. The Executive Director Kelly Wilbanks shows up and just as I noted last year, she is gracious and makes sure that volunteers have water and boxed lunches from Sally Bell’s, a family-owned establishment that has been serving homemade sandwiches and baked goods nine decades. This year, my Sally Bell’s boxed lunch included an egg salad sandwich, a deviled egg, a pecan & cheese wafer, potato salad, and a pineapple cake. My *Southern* is showing when I pick the egg salad and deviled egg combo but they really are different!
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| Connie showing me how to properly tie a rose to a fence. |
Connie over at Hartwood Roses is
our fearless leader, and she has done an amazing job organizing this
rose-saving-volunteer effort. It also makes me realize that Connie and I have
known each for two years now. In some ways, I can’t believe it has only been
two years; in other ways, I’m surprised it has been two years. It’s not often
we get to acknowledge our actual Friend-iversaries. I remember when I started
this blog that an acquaintance said that one cannot make true friends on the
internet. As I meet and befriend more of you dear readers, I prove her wrong
every day. Sometimes we come together over roses and gardening; sometimes it is
cemeteries; sometimes, it’s this great online goth community. Now my little
black heart is feeling all full of love. I love you all!
