Monday, November 05, 2012

Taphophile Tragics: Kaua'i Cemeteries

One of the things I write about on my Oakland blog is history. And one way to learn about history is by studying cemeteries, where you can learn about all sorts of people who made and lived history. K and I recently took a trip to Kauai for a family reunion for my parents' 50th anniversary, so I have some non-Oakland posts to write about.

To paraphrase Pascal, "the present slideshow is a very long one, simply because I had no leisure to make it shorter." As a farewell and thank you to Julie, who's been running the Taphophile Tragics meme for almost a year, I included a bunch of cemetery and memorials from my trip this summer to Kauai.

There are three formal cemeteries represented; a traditional burial site for Hawaiian chieftans; and a memorial from a local beach. The cemeteries are at St. Raphael Church, the oldest Catholic church on Kauai near Poipu; the Koloa Cemetery, a public cemetery (featured back in September); and Christ Memorial Church, an Episcopal church in Kilauea. The valley is Honopū Valley on the north shore. The beach is one of many out-of-the-way public beaches on the north shore. I wish I had more time to investigate the stories of the people behind all of these.





Lots more pictures of the Kauai cemeteries:

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Interesting photos --- these cemeteries are quite different (and very cool!) from the ones I've visited.

Unknown said...

There were aspects of each that were familiar, but differences, too. Leaving items as an altar to remember the dead by is common around here, especially with Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). But the style of stones were very different in each.

SeaThreePeeO said...

Beautiful pictures. I especially love the ones with the ceramic photographs. They mae the stone far more personal.

Beneath Thy Feet

Anonymous said...

Gene, I didn't find an email address on your blog -- I wanted to let you know I'm taking over hosting Taphophile Tragics (with Julie's blessing), so if you'd like to participate, come visit (http://marbletowns.wordpress.com)on Tuesday. :)

Unknown said...

I think they are very intersting, kind of make each spot unique to the family if that makes sense. its a touching gesture.

Sam, German Windows

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najamonline4u said...

very nice photos.very nicely covered different kinds of cemeteries. so many things to learn from this post