Is it weird that this is one of my favourite places to walk?

It’s “nice” outside (air quotes for the locals/Californian transplants who are bundled up in parkas and toques), but it’s still winter, so it gets dark pretty early. Even if I head out for a walk right after work, the dusk/cloud/rain combo means that I’m grabbing some flashing lights. Portland’s streetlight/sidewalk game is not strong, so even with my lights I feel pretty nervous about being seen at that time of day. The options are to walk super defensively along the side of the road, ready to dive into the bushes when cars approach, or to squelch my way through increasingly dark forest trails, dodging tree roots.

Or the third option – hang out at the cemetery.

It’s actually quite lovely. Wide paved roads, few cars, no dogs, and very, very quiet. I also appreciate frequent reminders of mortality; when I worked in the office, I always found that reading the obituaries while microwaving my soup was a no-fail way to make my current deadlines and frustrations pretty much disappear.

And I like looking at the graves:

Nothing says “hey, your lack of an automatic ice-maker is probably not as big of a deal as you think it is” like a gravestone being reclaimed by the earth.

I like the stately ones:

Although some are a wee bit terrifying:

Like any Whovian, I noped away from this pretty quickly, looking over my shoulder every few seconds to ensure I wasn’t being followed.

But this one is my favourite so far – I found it way set apart from the rest of the cemetery, all by its lonesome on the edge of the forest:

Far from macabre, a cemetery is actually a comforting and soothing place. Perfect for contemplation and prayer and re-framing the day’s events.