I can't help it, I just have this fascination with cemeteries and mausoleums. This beautiful marble statue rest atop the tombs of one of the more notable families of our city and since the day is a gloomy, rainy sorta day, it seems fitting.But this statue also holds a legend...it is said that if you gaze into the tomb on the eve of a full moon the lady will glow blue and you will be cursed for disturbing the dead...Well, such are the tales told by teenagers down through the annuls of history, but I can attest to the fact that she does glow blue. As the moon shines full in the evening sky, the blue stained glass window reflects on the white marble, giving an other-worldly appearance. Also, my daughter lives directly across the gully from this mausoleum and in the fall when the leaves are off the trees and it's a full moon, she can see a blue glow from the window of the mausoleum...well, let's say she is easily creeped out...a case of 'the willies' fer sure.
There is no history on the books of the curse being fulfilled, so we still go to the cemetery to gaze, albeit a little creeped out, of what might be and to scare the crap outta each other. This cemetery also sits high on a bluff and the family plots are on the edge of it, making the sunrise and sunsets beautiful from this vantage point over-looking the river valley. There is also a stairway at the bottom of the bluff leading all the way to the top of the cemetery...it is long and a real thigh-buster to walk, but has been closed due to deteriorating conditions and you will be reprimanded by 'the law' if you are caught climbing it...but that only instigates the challenge...ahhh, sweet youth. Well, they also vandalized the tomb and stole the hand holding the rose, hence the chain at the gates of the mausoleum.
But what a beautiful testament to the love of a family and the wealth of a forefather. One who gave history to a growing community in a difficult time, a lumber industry on the Mighty Mississippi.
