tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84478286157115207652024-02-20T04:04:07.117-05:00North Weymouth CemeteryNorth Weymouth Cemeteryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13712374007833262692noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8447828615711520765.post-85575735526205264762020-07-09T16:51:00.000-04:002020-07-09T16:51:16.123-04:002020, the year of COVID19 and LAUGH/SOBIt's July 2020, and here in Massachusetts we've hit the dog days of summer. I'll start with my weather and tree report, and then go from there.<br />
Again, I forget this blog is here, but when I do remember it's fun to catch up on years past.<br />
<br />
Last spring we had a rash of squirrel damage where the little tree rats were eating the bark off the old maple trees in the canyon. They've done this in past years and I don't understand why, because it's often a year where there have been plenty of nuts and it was mild. It destroys whole branches on the tree, and these trees, many being 200 years old, can ill afford the damage. Thankfully this year they seemed to leave the trees along. A happy reprieve.<br />
The winter was mild, the spring was wet, and now it's dry dry dry. But for the occasional soaking of a thunderstorm. Just enough water to revive the grass and feed the weeds.<br />
Another year without the dreaded inch worms, or canker works, ie the winter moths. There were a few, and a few is fine, but nothing like the destructive force they were. Hopefully this is the permanent trend. I know the birds miss them to feed their babies, but the trees don't need that added stress.<br />
<br />
So on to COVID 19. What will go down in history as one of the worst pandemics as we now measure things, not so much with the loss of life but as a destroyer of economies as this generations tries to keep the virus from spreading. The comparison to the 1918 Flu pandemic is obvious. Though back then, that flu was such a fast acting disease that you could be walking to work and die by the time you got there, this disease is insipid in its invisibility. You can carry it and share it without ever feeling sick or getting sick, and that make it all the harder to get people to take it seriously, or to deal with it seriously. Add to that the lack of leadership in dealing with it, it looks to take a very similar course as the 1918 flu.. though again, hopefully not as deadly, but with 132,000 dead in 4 months in America, what happens in the fall is anyone's guess.<br />
I can say that we have had a share of Covid burials, about 4, and all elderly people.. But the story that all deaths are being listed as Covid is not true, I can attest to that.<br />
The restrictions of the pandemic lockdown has really changed the funeral industry in the last 3 months. Limited or no wakes, limited people at the burials, people choosing cremation so they can hopefully have a service later in the year when things calm down.. it's all very new. And masks, everyone wearing masks to try to stop the spread of the virus. If I were to make a time casual for this year, I would put an array of masks in it to represent the year.<br />
<br />
On new news, the cemetery is considering erecting a columbarium in the Beal St. Section. Actually we are thinking of three, but one to start. As the cemetery runs out of room and cremation becomes ever more popular, it seems the way to go. But again, Covid has kind of put a damper on that for the moment.<br />
<br />
Have I mentioned the turkey's and the chipmunks? When I (your author) first started at the cemetery, you would NEVER see either. Once in a rare while you might catch a glimpse of a chipmunk or a turkey. Now they are common. Chips live all around the chapel building and at least once every few weeks try to run into the garage. Turkey moms have their families in the woods around the cemetery and their broods of 10-12 chicks blend right into the grass. And while last year we had a number of fox sightings, we haven't seen any this year..but they are out there, the fox, coyotes, and deer, and even Bald Eagles are not occasionally seen in Weymouth near the water.North Weymouth Cemeteryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13712374007833262692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8447828615711520765.post-16339392583580672762018-08-29T20:11:00.003-04:002018-08-29T20:11:42.665-04:00Forgotten Blogs and Weather Posts. It's been 2 years since the last post.. mostly because I forgot this blog even existed. Only because of a reminder notice asking me if I still want notifications about comments am I even here.<br /><br />But since I am, lets catch up on things. 2017 was ages ago... but I recall we had an early fall as far as leaves go, mostly because of yet another dry summer that caused the stressed trees to start dropping leaves early, but for some reason the oaks seemed to keep their leaves forever.... extending fall clean up quite a bit. Although it did give us extended time to mulch the leaves as they came down, so there were significantly smaller piles to pick up.<br />Due to the droughts though, many of the regrown elm trees are now dying... trees that might be 25 years old are just dropping all their leaves and turning stone cold dead. Other trees seem to also be taking a hit from the lack of water, though there seems to be enough to keep the crab grass happy this year.<br /><br />Last year we had an uptick of gypsy moths, due also to the lack of rain (they are kept in check by a fungus that needs spring rains to be effective). We did not have noticeable damage, but some areas of MA really took a hit... It was predicted to be another bad year this year, with a spring that started out pretty dry but then turned to two months of rain in April and May? Then it dried out again and while we have had bouts of heavy rains and the flowers have really seemed to last a long time this year, it's now getting rather dry again. Two digs tomorrow will tell us how much moisture is or isnt in the ground. I'm thinking it's going to be pretty dry.<br /><br />Also of note is the incredible heat we've had this year, yet again breaking records. July and August have been just oppressive with weeks at a time of record heat. Its the payback for the beautiful weather we had in June I guess. But as we head into September having had a week of 95+ degree weather with heat indexes in the triple digits, and the first week looking the same, it's kind of depressing.<br /><br />Also of note were last year's hurricanes that hit Huston, Florida and Puerto Rico and the Virgin Island chains... and this year we have fires burning most of the west sending smoke across the country and an unusual Pacific hurricane that sent feet of rain into Hawaii. This year seems quiet in the Atlantic... but it's still early.<br /><br />
I noticed the poison ivy vines are starting to drop leaves.. not turn, but drop.. Early sign of the stress or heat? Not sure.<br /><br />Well, now that I've found this again, I'll have to try to figure out what it's attached to... I'm not sure anyone even sees this or can see it.North Weymouth Cemeteryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13712374007833262692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8447828615711520765.post-78623658532003100562016-08-20T16:25:00.003-04:002016-08-20T16:25:53.770-04:00Worst Drought in 30 years. Maybe worst on record in this area.We've had dry seasons before, and dry summers, and some summers that were crispy. This one takes the cake. The unseasonably warm winter led to a dry but pleasant spring, which we are now paying for.<br />
The good news is that there were not as many inch worms as I expected this spring, the bad news is that due to the dry winter, there was an explosion of gypsy moth caterpillars, which apparently suffer from some kind of fungus in wet years, but this year they were free to proliferate. The cemetery didn't suffer much damage from them, though in other parts of the area they went to town on the trees.<br />
<br />
The drought is taking a toll on the young trees, which we have tried to stave off by putting make shift watering bags on. (heavy duty trash bags with pin holes along the bottoms, tied up with zip ties) The larger trees are just hanging in there as best they can. I see many have dumped some of their leaves, some started to turn early.. We wont know the damage until later I think.<br />
There has been a little rain in the last few weeks, very little but enough to bring the grass back from crunchy to crabgrass at least. The crabgrass and other usual weeds have been virtually nonexistent this year as well, which hasn't been good for the birds and bees. Also missing are the bugs that the birds feed on. It's a mixed blessing when there are no mosquitoes.<br />
<br />
As we head into late summer, the heat is still on outside, mid to high 80s. Some towns are down to a 30 day supply of water in their ponds and reserves. It's going to be interesting if we don't get some serious rain. Meanwhile in Louisiana they got 2 feet of rain in a day? And California burns. Last winter was an El-Nino winter, but supposedly that has gone by now.. So we'll see how this winter plays out.North Weymouth Cemeteryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13712374007833262692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8447828615711520765.post-69091591349112997012016-01-20T18:17:00.002-05:002016-01-20T18:17:25.985-05:00The affects of the inch worms and the warm warm winter up until nowThe spring inch worm infestation had a noticeable affect on the quantity of the leaves that we didn't have to rake this fall. Though there are still leaves to pick up, they are far fewer than in any other year I can recall. Also due to the dry summer and fall, we were able to mulch leaves a lot longer than in many years. <div>
The long warm winter was also conducive to the breeding winter moths, so I expect another heavy infestation in the spring. </div>
<div>
This was the warmest year on record, around the globe. For the third year in a row. Sad to say that inch worms may be the least of the worries of the trees in the cemetery. </div>
North Weymouth Cemeteryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13712374007833262692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8447828615711520765.post-33174377020954063622015-05-19T21:39:00.001-04:002015-05-19T21:39:21.833-04:00After the record breaking winter. May 19, 2015. After one of the most nightmarish winters since the Blizzard of 78, we are fully a month behind in our work. With over 100 inches of snow this past winter, endless cold, and snow that really did not fully melt until April (and as of last week, piles could still be found hiding in shadowy places here and there, though not in the cemetery thankfully) work that would have been done in March and April is not complete. Also with the aligning of the stars and a landslide of burials since the thaw, it is with great displeasure that I concede that there is no way things will look right for Memorial Day. We will try as much as we are able, but with three more funerals in this last week, it's not looking good. Leaves that would have been picked up will have to stay put while we try desperately to get the grass under some kind of control. Trimming will likely be lacking.<br />
If there is a consolation, it's that we don't give up after Memorial Day passes. We will continue to work at it until it's done.. and then it will all start up again, as it does every season. Wash, rinse, repeat.<br />
<br />
A note on the trees, its a brutal year for the inch worms, who started slow as well but are eating the trees bare. They as always particularly like any ornamental tree, the oaks, and our ancient maples are taking yet another beating. They are horrible creatures.<br />
<br />
<br />North Weymouth Cemeteryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13712374007833262692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8447828615711520765.post-61333344970074747132013-12-31T15:55:00.000-05:002013-12-31T15:55:26.624-05:00View us on Facebook, because this blog is dead. 2014 is hours away and the last blog post was sometime in 2012…. Yeah, this is pretty much a dead space. We do have a pretty active Facebook page if you are seeing this and want to check it out. Just google North Weymouth Cemetery and Facebook and I'm sure you'll find it. All the latests animal sightings, tree plantings and weather updates. Also anything I deem interesting related to cemeteries or history or Weymouth. You never know what you might find.<br />
<br />
As a historical weather note, last winter (2012-13), did prove to be a whopper of a snowy winter, but rather a mild one temperature wise in our area. The ground never really got a chance to freeze before the near constant snow cover insulated it for the season.<br />
<br />
This winter has started out very mild, with ice and rain and warmer than normal temperatures. Here we are at New Years eve, and just yesterday there was no frost in the ground, and today the temps have plummeted and we have firm ground under our feet. And in 2 days we will have a winter storm that may bring 6-12 inches of snow. So who knows.. but we are defiantly warmer for the season, though at least we are getting much needed moisture as the latter part of the summer of 2013 was very dry.<br />
<br />
Happy New Year all… till next time.North Weymouth Cemeteryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13712374007833262692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8447828615711520765.post-16218725045517615442012-08-11T22:46:00.001-04:002012-08-11T22:46:31.480-04:00Summer 2012This blog hasn't been touched in a few years, so I should probably update it.<br />
Weather wise.. well, we had the winter that wasn't last year and now across the country we have one of the (if not the) hottest, driest summers on record. Last August we suffered from the affects of hurricane Irene, which downed a number of trees in the New Cemetery but was less damaging than Gloria or Bob. Then came the October snowstorm which thankfully spared us, but clobbered much of MA. Then there was the winter that wasn't, with almost no freezing temperatures and little to no snow. In years past, when we get little snow, the grown freezes hard and deep. If we get a layer of snow, then we can expect less frost in the ground. We got no snow, almost no frost, and then winter was over. We had an early spring, everything was sprouting a full month early from the trees to the bulbs. Then just as it began to dry out and we were into red flag fire warnings, we got soaking rains and that seemed to make up a bit for the dry winter. Summer rolled along hot and humid after that, with dry spells and then rain just enough to keep us going. Here we are in August with humidity and tornado warnings and torrential downpours at times, and with trees now starting to turn or lose leaves from the stress of the summer.<br />
<br />
What a strange ride it's been, and I have no idea what the winter will hold. Part of this weather pattern is supposedly due to La Ninya. Will she change? Will we get snow or at least cold this winter? The entire country could use the snows and the water they bring.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
In our own effort to be green, we have planted over 10 trees in the last 3 years. Four spectacular Linden trees, all of which seem to be doing well, three maples, two sycamore trees, and a number of flowering trees. Hopefully they will all survive and in time provide the shade and beauty that makes our cemetery so attractive. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
In other news, the wildlife is really becoming quite amazing at the cemetery. Not 20 years ago, sighting a turkey was an unusual curiosity. Now they come by almost regularly, sometimes in flocks of 20. We've had hens nest in the cemetery, parading their chicks around. This year we had one hen make a nest right on the stone wall overlooking North St., not a foot from traffic! Luckily she and her brood survived and were last seen (maybe it was them) blocking traffic on Church St. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
And if it's not the turkeys, its the deer! Which while beautiful to see, also bring the dreaded tiny deer ticks, carriers of Lyme disease. Also more common this year and last are bunnies. The numbers of rabbits seemed to decline as the coyote and hawk populations climbed, but while I'm sure they are still out there, coyotes seem to be more scarce this year. Perhaps that is why there are more rabbits? </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
On the burial front... Cremations seem to be the in thing these days. In these very dire economic times, more and more people seem to be opting for cremation than ever before. It's quite a change for the industry in this country, although something I think Europeans have been dealing with for a long time due to lack of space. There is so much demand for cremations that Plymouth has built a crematorium, and Blue Hills Cemetery has gotten permission to build one. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
That's about it for the update for now. </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>North Weymouth Cemeteryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13712374007833262692noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8447828615711520765.post-4215454386486815612010-09-24T22:33:00.002-04:002010-09-24T22:43:35.902-04:00DroughtAfter torrential spring rains this year (2010) we had a summer of virtually no rain. Quite literally, most mowing stopped this summer. The grass turned crunchy and brown by the end of June, and only at the end of August did it start to make a comeback. It's times like this that I appreciate crab grass, the only thing that will come in green after a brief shower. While we are still in very dry conditions for this time of the year, things are better, if only on the surface.<br /><br />Not knowing what the summer would look like (we've had a number of very wet summers in the past few years) I took advantage of a fantastic sale on trees at the local Big Box store. 4 good sized Linden trees for $11.00 each. Cant pass that up. To date, with much watering through out the summer, the trees seem to have survived. Hopefully they will overwinter well, and will continue to grow next year. Many of our ancient maple trees are not doing well, and they will need replacing eventually. Shade trees are an important ingredient in a beautiful cemetery. <br /><br />Also perhaps because of the drought, it looks like the fall foliage is starting early. The oaks are already turning yellow, and they are usually the last trees to turn. Some maples are orange already, but those ones are usually the dying maples, which for some reason there are a lot of all around town. <br /><br />Now would normally be a good time to plant grass seed, but unless the weather changes a bit more and we get some more rain, I'm not sure if this season will be a good one for grass seed. Hopefully next year will be more normal.North Weymouth Cemeteryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13712374007833262692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8447828615711520765.post-23111173033132941022009-06-18T17:21:00.003-04:002009-06-18T17:34:16.918-04:00Pet Peeve - Trash.<span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">One of my pet peeves at the cemetery is that people leave trash behind their headstones. When they come to put in new flowers or other orniments, they simply take the old stuff and place it behind the stone. This occurs in sections that have trash barrels.<br />I equate leaving trash behind your stone with going to someone's house, bringing a cup of coffee, and leaving the empty cup behind the sofa. You would never do that (I hope), but some people feel it's not their job to remove what they originally brought in. <br />There are thousands of headstones in the cemetery. There is absolutely no way anyone is going to visit the backs of every stone to pick up trash. That's why there are barrels.<br /><br />Another pet peeve is when people throw plastic trash into the woods. There are large tracts of woodsy hills in the cemetery, and I have no problems with people throwing leave, grass, pumpkins, even bush clippings <span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">well</span> </span>into the woods. It all turns to loam eventually. But plastic, glass and metal will remain for many many years, and they will look ugly for years. Put these items in, or at least by, the barrels for pick up. Any plants or planters should have all non-organic matter removed (ie bows, plastic berries, etc) before they are tossed.<br /><br />Last pet peeve is when people bring in new decorations, but do not remove the old ones. "Out with the old, in with the new" please. It's cleaner, neater, and prettier, and easier to maintain.<br /></span>North Weymouth Cemeteryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13712374007833262692noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8447828615711520765.post-80526536551259027432009-05-09T17:25:00.002-04:002009-05-09T17:41:02.889-04:00Memorial DayIt's two weeks before Memorial Day. Like every year, it's an insane fight to get 14ish acres of cemetery cleaned of leaves and then mowed and trimmed, while still doing burials that come up and fighting the weather. Every year its the same thing. This year seems worse, as I think Memorial Day weekend is earlier than usual. Most of the leaves have been picked up, and we've already mowed five large sections of the cemetery. But the killer is that no matter how hard you try, the grass keeps on growing, so you can mow one section one week, but you can never have all the sections trim for Memorial Day. It's virtually impossible.<br />Then there are the mechanical issues, mowers that break down, whips that break. It's always something. As hard as we try, and much as we break our backs to do all the areas, we will always miss something, or we will think we did everything and literally in the three days of the weekend, the grass will grow enough to make it look like we hadn't touched it. That's just the way it is.<br />You can please some of the people some of the time, but you can't please all of the people all of the time. But we do try.North Weymouth Cemeteryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13712374007833262692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8447828615711520765.post-49287374142299430242009-04-19T17:01:00.002-04:002009-04-19T17:04:54.870-04:00This Saturday the 18th I was able to photograph a large number of stones on the Western hill of the cemetery. These stones are mostly from the mid 1700's to early 1800's and include slate and marble stones. The weather was cloudy but warm, which made for good photographs. I actually realize that too much sun isn't that good, because it makes the exposure too bright and creates shadows. These pictures turned out well I think. But I'm not done yet. I'll label them when I can.North Weymouth Cemeteryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13712374007833262692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8447828615711520765.post-16003038124374026652009-04-11T21:07:00.002-04:002009-04-11T21:12:46.244-04:00I've recently gone back and finished putting names and some dates on the photo's of gravestones that I took last spring. I have more to post, but I hope that this will at least provide a good starting point for a lot of people looking for relatives or doing genealogy. I've done my best to get the info correct, but I know that the stones are very hard to read at times, or the photo was not the best. Still, it's something. <br />I am hopeful that this spring I will be able to get a lot more of the old slate stones on the Western hill photographed before the leaves come out and shade them too much, but that will of course depend on the weather.<br />If anyone has a good photo of a stone in the cemetery that they would like to post, I would be happy to include it on the Flickr site, just e-mail it to me. Right now I am mostly concentrating on the slate and marble stones, but I will occasionally put in a granite one if it's interesting or historically significant, or unique in some way.North Weymouth Cemeteryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13712374007833262692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8447828615711520765.post-29427092176730924652008-10-16T22:29:00.002-04:002008-10-16T22:32:57.817-04:00Fall is here, and the ancient maple trees in the old section are turning brilliant yellows and orange and are already beginning to fall, creating a carpet of gold and yellow around the old slate and marble stones. Too soon they will turn brown and ugly, and will be just more work rather than beauty. Enjoy them while they last.North Weymouth Cemeteryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13712374007833262692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8447828615711520765.post-55361262080465036782008-04-19T10:57:00.002-04:002008-04-20T16:33:04.749-04:00Cemetery Blog/ Message BoardI have <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">received</span> a number of request from this web site related to people looking for information about ancestors. I have always thought that it would be nice if people who came by looking for the same ancestors could somehow connect. To this end, I am providing what I hope will be a place for people to find each other and share information and links.<br />If you like, you may leave a comment to this message with your name and email (or any web site links) and the ancestors in the North <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Weymouth</span> Cemetery you would like to either learn more about or share information about. It would probably be helpful to title your reply with the surname or names you are interested in. I will check back from time to time and try to add more blog entries that deal with specific names, hopefully making it easier to find information.<br />If this blog does not work out for some reason, it will be removed, but I hope it can work as a message board for genealogists.North Weymouth Cemeteryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13712374007833262692noreply@blogger.com17