A last post from Alton, Illinois, still in Old Alton Cemetery. I've been in a lot of places like this and never seen so many ruined monuments. What caused this collapse - poor materials or workmanship? A terrible storm or an earthquake? (We have small ones occasionally, with a low but definite risk of a big one.) It's interesting to see how the obelisk cracked in two as it fell.
The posts get much more colorful starting tomorrow.
Alton has an Old Cemetery that's worth a visit. It is very hilly (most of the town is) and some of it is in poor condition. We were looking for the grave and monument of Elijah Lovejoy (more about which later) and came across this. The stones are hardly bigger than my shoe. The scene looked sorrowful and dejected.
It has been said that I have loose associations (something I'm happy about). The loudspeaker in my head immediately began to play one of the great moments in Western music, O Mio Babbino Caro (O My Dear Daddy) from Puccini's Gianni Schicchi (https://youtu.be/uFLVKaFVGag). Mamma doesn't get nearly enough credit.
