Sleepy Hollows
Today I visited the quiet (too quiet, actually) village of Sleepy Hollows, an hour up the Hudson.
I walked straight into Sleepy Hollows Cemetery.
This was the first time I was walking in a large cemetery, and it was... well, scary, a little. It was a typical cemetery day, just like in the movies. Not a single person around. Not one. Large administrative buildings, cars, pickup trucks, all strewn around but not a soul in sight. Following winding paths with naked wretched trees creeping over both sides, you are surrounded only by graves in all directions. Tombstones, so textured, so seemingly brittle, with a rectangular patch of earth in their shadow. One long lost, a few feet below. The wind rustled the leaves on the ground, continuously. It was dim, faint shadows strewn across the paths in front of you. I couldn't concentrate on doing, what I came to the place for in the first place, to take photographs. Because, it was so quiet, you are so aware of yourself in this space, something that never happens in the city. I always turned around occasionally, just to see what was behind me. Large mausoleums with corroded doors just staring at you, wrought iron bars holding them back, almost waiting to burst at you with whoever has been laying there for decades. Fresh roses at the feet of gravestones... I couldn't imagine who came along and left them there. Its so quiet. Drops of rain. You come to a point where you are on the top of a hill, and you are surrounded by graves just flowing down the hill in every direction. Leaves still rustling away, continuously. Almost brushing my feet. Patches of sunlight traveling across the hillsides.
It was a surreal experience. I'll be posting photos soon.
