As it should be

No, this isn't a race report. Whew! I was getting tired of those too. This is just your run of the mill reflections on life post. Actually, it isn't even that deep - just something I wanted to share.

So, it's a beautiful Saturday morning and before I can bring myself to do any work (yes, unfortunately I bring work home with me many weekends), I decide to go for a walk to the local Wawa and get a cup of coffee. En route, there is a church whose claim to fame is that it played a prominent role in instituting the phrase "In God We Trust" on United States coins and currency. As is true of many churches, this one has a cemetery.

I've lived in this town for almost a year now, but have only recently begun exploring the nooks and crannies of it through neighborhood walks. Returning from Wawa, coffee in hand, I decided to check out this cemetery a bit. Old and newer headstones dot the grounds in no apparent order or pattern. I see more than a fair share of toppled over markers, old and new alike, and I'm sad at the thought that some local teenage punks likely had a hand in that.

The cemetery wraps behind the church and goes back farther than I had anticipated. Walking through, it's pretty clear that this is not the most well maintained graveyard and before long, I notice gravestones beyond the natural border of the cemetery, peeking through the ground brush and overgrown grass. At first I felt a little saddened by this, that these markers, and those whom they represent, have long been forgotten. But then almost as quickly came the thought, "As it should be" and I saw it differently. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, right? So it's fitting that nature has taken over, gathering the dearly departed back into her embrace.