Key West Lou / TWO CEMETERIES…..AT OPPOSITE ENDS OF THE UNITED STATES

Two cemeteries. Each located at opposite ends of the United States. One in Key West. The other Waterbury, Vermont.

In the southernmost community in the United States, the Key West Cemetery. Historians best describe it.  In the heart of Old Town. Unique and filled, though always room for one more. It is estimated that between 70,000 and 100,000 people are buried there.

The Cemetery was established at its current location after an 1846 hurricane washed dead bodies from an earlier cemetery located beneath coastal sand dunes on Whitehead Point near the West Martello Towers.

Headstones are history. One reflects one of the earliest birthdates as 1792. Another records a death in 1843.

The new 1847 cemetery was established on “high ground, 16 feet above sea level.” The location motivated by the hurricane washed out bodies referred to earlier.

The grounds are typical Key West. Chickens and iguanas roam freely as they do on the rest of the island. It is weedy and overgrown with a forlorn air of a forgotten place. Which it is not! Visited daily by locals and tourists. Probably frequented by more people than cemeteries in other communities.

There are few trees. Many graves are in above ground vaults for the same reason as in New Orleans – a high water table.

A cemetery speaks of an area’s history. The Key West Cemetery is no different.

There is a monument to the U.S.S. Maine which was blown up in Havana Harbor in 1896 killing 260 American military. Two dozen are buried in the space together with other veterans of the Spanish-American War. An iron fence and gate brought from Washington, D.C. A neat grassy yard.

Key West was anti-Black in the first part of the 20th century. In 1921, Manuel Cabeza was a white bar owner and World War I veteran who was having a relationship with a mixed-race woman. He was tarred and feathered by the Ku Klux Klan for it. In retaliation, he shot and killed one of his persecutors on Duval Street Christmas Eve 1921. The next day, a posse removed Cabeza from jail, lynched and then shot his body as it swung from a tree limb.

Key West’s Cuban heritage is strongly evident. A section of the Cemetery is devoted to those who fought and died in the 1868 Cuban revolution.

The remains of “Sloppy Joe” Russell, close friend of Ernest Hemingway, lie in the Cemetery.

One of the most humorous headstones is that of B. P. Roberts. Roberts had inscribed on his headstone “I told you I was sick.”

Then there is Gloria Russell. Her headstone reads “I’m just resting my eyes.”

Are there ghosts in the Cemetery? Of course. This is Key West. Ghosts are everywhere. The most frequently sighted ghost is a Bahamian woman who it is claimed approaches visitors who sit on graves or behave disrespectfully.

The far north grave yard worthy of mention is located in Waterbury, Vermont. A Ben & Jerry created cemetery. The ice cream concern created a cemetery for its “fallen flavors.” The site can be physically visited. Funerals are held to honor some of the “fallen flavors.”

The “dearly departed” are buried on the grounds of the company’s plant in Waterbury. Each has a granite headstone and epitaph. Currently, 34 flavors lie in the “Flavor Graveyard.”

A unique feature exists. Resurrections. If a sufficient number of fans request a flavor be brought back from the dead, it will be returned. An outline form on Ben & Jerry’s website is available for the purpose.

Back to mac and cheese that I wrote about yesterday. Another point of information. Mac and cheese was one of the first kinds of pasta to come to the United States. Popularized by Thomas Jefferson.

Jefferson became a “macaroni freak.” He had pasta shipped from Italy. Primarily, Naples. He also had several U.S. vendors he purchased from in large quantities. They imported and sold macaroni.

Jefferson also had his own macaroni making machines which he used.

Jefferson would cook pasta dishes for his guests. Not all enjoyed the preparation. Jefferson was too heavy with the garlic.

Texts and a photo reveal authorities were aware of Crooks 90 minutes before the shooting.

A major Secret Service screw up! Cannot be tolerated. Should not have occurred.

Diseases controlled by vaccinations.

Vaccines were invented in 1796. Several diseases have gone from killing hundreds of thousands per year down to simple digits.

Diphtheria and smallpox used to kill 20,000 each year. Now, zero. Vercell  used to kill 4 million, now tops off at 500,000. Rubella used to kill 50,0000 per year, now held to about 5.

As one gets older, the propensity to bleed becomes more frequent and heavier. The reason simple. Most elderly are on blood thinners. The slightest bump causes bleeding to occur.

Learned a “newbie” on the internet yesterday. A person can use their own spit to get blood stains fully out. The enzymes from one’s own saliva will break down one’s own blood.

As I’ve mentioned in the past, I spent time in the 1970’s and 1980’s at a “fat farm” near San Diego.. La Costa. Exercise from 9-5, 800 calories a day. Impossible not to lose weight. I was good for one pound a day and was able to keep it off for about 2 months.

I met a lot of interesting people I would never have met were it not for my weight problems and the need for La Costa.

One was Rodney Dangerfield. What you saw in the movies and on TV was what you got in real life. He dressed and acted like you saw him in  movies and TV. He became a success by being himself.

We became friends.

He came out frequently with wife jokes. Whether true, I do not know.

I mention the wife jokes because I came across some on the internet this morning: “I haven’t spoken to my wife in years, I didn’t want to interrupt her……I told my wife the truth, I told her I was seeing a psychiatrist. Then she told me she was seeing a psychiatrist, 2 plumbers and a bartender……My wife wants sex in the back of the car, and she wants me to drive….My wife was afraid of the dark. then she saw me naked, and now she’s afraid of the light.”

The man! The comedian!

When I was in high school and college, I noticed people had jobs they worked at for years and intended to stay with their entire lives.

During my professional career, I noticed “loyalty” disappeared in the work force. People tended to move from one job to another. I assume it is still the case today.

As a result, I was surprised to read about a woman that has worked for the same company for 53 years. She is Barbara Cramer. She is now 75 years old and still plugging away with the same employer.

There is a strange aspect to her story. Not just her job’s longevity. Her employer is the Fort Pierce McDonald’s in West Palm Beach. Barbara says she loves working there and has no plans to stop. She is proud to be a “fast food worker” at McDonald’s.

When Barbara began working at McDonald’s, the Big Mac was only 3 years old. Time for McDonald’s worldwide to honor the woman by coming out with a new burger called the Big Barb.

A winner in many respects!

Enjoy your day!

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