Gabriolan.ca » history http://gabriolan.ca Gabriola Island blog Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:00:15 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 The Gabriola Cemetery http://gabriolan.ca/2010/03/11/the-gabriola-cemetery/ http://gabriolan.ca/2010/03/11/the-gabriola-cemetery/#comments Thu, 11 Mar 2010 09:17:28 +0000 Anon E. Mouse http://gabriolan.ca/?p=6570 As a child, I spent many summer holidays with an aunt who was fascinated by cemeteries and could hardly pass one without stopping to take a look. She would have loved the one on Gabriola. It’s a spot I enjoy visiting even though I don’t know anyone buried there and am not at all religious. It should be no surprise, I suppose — given all the creative energy on the island — that the cemetery is filled with beautiful and sometimes idiosyncratic memorials.

Gabriola Cemetery - grave markerIt was hard to pick just a few to include here. But here goes:

This wooden memorial has a tantalizingly ambiguous form. Is it a bird? Is it a fish? Or should I just enjoy the organic shape without trying to force it into some mental mold?

Gabriola Cemetery - grave markerI really liked this one with its pebble edging and simple plants. I wondered what the collection of artifacts meant to the couple buried here and their surviving loved ones?  Note also the stained glass plaque in the background. There are quite a few of these in the cemetery and I understand they are custom-made on the island.

Gabriola Cemetery - grave markerThe art work here was very West Coast.

Gabriola Cemetery markerAnd I just had to finish up with this one – it reminds me of a petroglyph. How could you get any more Gabriola Island than that?

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