I have been looking for places to find autumn colours and one idea I had last week was to visit Pinehills cemetery in Scarborough. I didn’t find many colourful leaves but I did find a few things. The most noticeable was the mix of names on the stones – Chinese, Italian, Spanish, Greek, and more, all mixed in together. In Toronto we often live side by side and it seems that we are also buried side by side – as in the three people below: Baffa, Rajamohan, and Gutierrez.
below: Black stones with crosses on the top seem to be the prefered headstone for those in the Greek community who are buried here. Sometimes the name is in English, and sometimes in Greek.
below: Cemeteries are fascinating in that they give us a glimpses into cultures and traditions. The decorating of grave sites with flowers and figurines adds a bit of joy to an otherwise somber setting. You know that these people are remembered and their lives celebrated.
below: A large shamrock. Beneath it, a Miss Kitty doll in purple and a pair of boxing gloves with the Irish flag. Doesn’t it make you wonder why? Was Frank Murphy a boxer? What will my descendants leave by my grave?
below: I assume that the red tape covers an inscription that is already on the headstone for the spouse of the departed? Perhaps a name and birthdate? Written vertically in Mandarin…. and I wish that I could read some of them. Is there something written about the deceased? Is there an epitaph? I’ll have to be content to look at the lotus flower, bamboo, and dragons that decorate the stones.
below: As I was leaving, this coyote came sauntering across the grass. It wasn’t the least bit afraid of me (in my car).
as I walk Toronto 