Sunday Stills - Old Churches And Graveyards

Well, I could have done a better job with some of these pictures, but when you wait until Saturday afternoon to start your Sunday Stills assignment, you sometimes add in an extra challenge, in this case, bad timing with the sun. I think the interesting subjects on a friend's farm can provide some cover for me though.



Normally you'd hear sheep off in the distance, but today just these horses. Like most places in central Kentucky, horses played a big role in the history of this farm in North Middletown, once the home of one of the foundation American Saddlebred stallions, Bourbon King.

When our friends moved out here several years ago all that remained of the horse cemetery was a big pile of tombstones pushed up into a pile against a tree. In an effort to preserve the little remaining history, they had the stones built into a dry stack stone fence.







I noticed there were some neat fossils in the fence stones, so I tried to find a good one for Ed's dad. And technically I suppose these are some of the earth's very oldest cemeteries.



I also found some hidden treasures, mostly acorns and walnuts and hidey holes, but also this bright white piece of quartz. Wonder who put it there...



Look at this tiny nest.



There is also a very old (pre-Civil War) people cemetery, guarded by these fabulous old trees. I believe they are burr oaks and a shagbark hickory although I couldn't find any verification pics of a shagbark hickory this big (!).





Vandals had littered the stone wall and gravestones with nut shells, but it felt like a happy place. A close knit family of trees and squirrels and rocks and birds.



And while I frequently talk to trees, I seldom find any big enough to hug. Standing next to these giants is as good a' old church as any I believe. I used one of those high tech stone wall/burr oak nut cap tripods and the self-timer to capture this.

For more Sunday Stills...