My apple tree, my brightness

Today I took a little trip a few blocks north to the famous Graceland Cemetery. (It has nothing to do with Elvis.) I have been to this beautiful cemetery before, but not for years and years. What I love most about Graceland Cemetery, in addition to the ornate monuments, is that it is a four square block patch of peace and serenity in the middle of the city.

Graceland features many very old gravestones and some very huge stones. Many of Chicago's founders and city big-wigs are buried here, and it is easy to spot graves of people for whom streets and buildings are named.

Some photos . . .

Some graves are small and simple:


Some are tombs built in to hills:

Some monuments are giant obelisks:


And some are highly ornate works of art:

Some tombs are quite big (note the "L" train in the background, showing that we are deep in the heart of the city):

And some are even bigger:

Some monuments are pyramids:


Some grave sites are set on private islands:

Many graves are watched over by various statues, such as saints:
Or flower-bearing lasses:


Or angels:


Or weird sphinx-people:


Or Greek scholars (Goodman is the founder of a highly renowned theater in Chicago):

Or awesome carvings of Jesus:


Or knights:

Or scary religious figures that may be Mary:


And some monuments are for world famous influential architects:

So that is what I did today.