I can't believe it's been almost a year since I visited Bodie Ghost Town State Historic Park! And I haven't even finished editing all my pictures from my trip.
But tomorrow I'll be visiting Bodie for the second time so I thought I'd better get at least some of these posted. Tomorrow is the final Star Stories and Ghost Walk event for the year at Bodie. I won't be going on the Ghost tours (no money, no ghostie), but I'm definitely all in for the stars!
I was already planning to try to do my first star and moon night shoot on August 27th, because it's a crescent moon which is one of my favorites. And then I realized it was the night of the event and the sky above the high desert is simply amazing!
So I knew I had to make it happen.
These pictures are from October and of course this is August, so I'm hoping there won't be so many clouds tomorrow. Clouds aren't so great for star photos. But they make some magnificent daytime photos.
So the only pictures I have edited are from the Bodie Cemetaries. Yes, plural.
But that's a perfect tie in with the Ghost Walk theme, right?
It is!! So here we go.
One of the sad things about historical cemeteries is how many graves there are for children. It was a hard, hard life back then. And losing children was a common trial of the times.
There are a lot of "lost" graves in Bodie. The Bodie Foundation is working hard to identify and mark these graves with a little help from four-legged friends. The next picture is a newly located grave with a flag for future identification.
And the next shows a grave with a "new" wooden marker.
Did I mention that the high desert under the wide open sky with a bazillion fluffy clouds is amazing?
Buried here are the mortal remains of Waterman S. Bodey...
Yes, the town name is misspelled. A town painter messed up and it stuck. Sad thing is, in July 1989, Mr. Bodey did find gold as he set out to do...but he died several months later by freezing to death during a supply run to Monoville.
And yet, he lives on.
His legacy is this amazing, preserved by nature, ghost town.
This next grave is the site of the last remaining minor in Bodie.
The coil of wires seems to be a theme. I don't know what it means exactly...Google has let me down. It could just be a touch of the old west or it could be symbolic of Christ's crown of thorns (which is what some barbed wire tattoos mean).
So many graves for children.
"Think of your child, then, not as dead, but as living.
Not as a flower that has withered, but has been transplanted.
Touched by a Divine hand,
Blooming in richer colors and sweeter shades than those of earth."
~~Richard Hooker
Breathtaking sky over Boot Hill.
The morgue under black and white fury.
See you tomorrow Bodie!!! I cannot wait!
xoxo
