Visiting my other daughter

I was in Rohrersville, MD this morning, putting the third coat of finish on some of the wood floors in a house my husband and I are restoring. On my way back home I needed to stop at Nichols Hardware in Purcellville, VA. The road that I use to get there (Rt. 690) is near where my younger daughter resides.

It is a beautiful setting - this church has been here from the early settlement days of Loudoun County.

Ketoctin Baptist Church 1751

                      The grounds are very well taken care of. 
                                   You can hardly see her. 
            Her marker is small compared to a 'normal' marker.

   She is off to the left of the marker in the middle of the photo.

This is the oldest part of the cemetery.  It lies behind the church and is surrounded by a wonderful stone wall.

So many cemeteries these days are just windswept fields. We were looking in January of 1996 - they were frozen windswept fields then. The blizzard started the day after she was buried.
When we had to bury Callie I wanted some 'borrowed landscape'.  Something to make her plot feel more 'homey?' and less - of what it really was... 
Callie's plot backs up to the stone wall surrounding the old cemetery. The tall stump you see in the background use to be a huge old evergreen populated by all kinds of birds and squirrels. 

Our dog Cali was with me today - she had never been with me to visit Callie. Cali enjoyed the new wide open space and all of the forest animal smells. And NO - I did not name my dog after my dead daughter. This sweet pup came with that name - 3 years ago, and as my dear friend/sister Jennifer said when she saw Cali on the Best Friends website - "I think she is heaven sent". We agreed!

I didn't bring anything with me to leave at her grave today - but soon it will be time to take a pumpkin or two - so all of the forest creatures can enjoy a special treat.

 And you can imagine all of the animals that might run amok out here. Forest, field, and a creek nearby make a wonderful place to live and play.

Cali keeps company with venerable neighbors. All of the old Loudoun County families are buried here - the Love's, Purcell's, Hutcheson's and more. It is a quiet place, a contemplative place. Birdsong and squirrel chatter are about the only noise you hear.
If you'd like to see what else I did today - take a look at my Facebook Page.

Until later - xo, Liz