This post has been a fun post to play with this cold, dreary, gray Sunday afternoon. I’m combining Lens Artist, Sofia’s challenge of Looking Back through history with Terri’s Sunday Stills color challenge. Of course, I’m not leaving out John’s Cell Pic Sunday because these are all cell photos.
A Look Back at the IOOF Cemetery
The day after Jodie and her friends left, Janet from This That and the Other Thing and I visited Acker Park and the International Order of Odd Fellows Cemetery for a muddy look around. Vince and I explored the IOOF Cemetery last year. At the time, I mistakenly thought it was the LOOF Cemetery, but Janet cleared that up for me.
Few of the sites were maintained so I am assuming that most of the family members no longer remain in the area or have passed. My comments about the graves are not meant to be disrespectful, or irreligious, only observational.
There were several differences in graves throughout the centuries from the 1800s to the 1900s. The earth has moved some of the markers, so there was no need to adjust the photos for my errors in straightness.
One of the more elaborate gray markers has an interesting twist.
Maybe some of the panels came off or maybe it was created this way. I’m guessing the metal plates came unbolted over the years. Curious, I looked into the opening. It was filled almost to the top with rocks.
This was one of the newer markers with a colorful insert.
Several similar markers designated soldiers and they did not vary much over time from the Civil War to the Korean War. Soldiers who were buried here came from all over the country.
I photographed this grave partially in order to tell you a story. My mother was named after her two grandmothers. When she complained about her name Martha Margaret being too long, Grandma threatened to change it to her two grandmas’ middle names instead. Mom quit complaining. Her name could have been Nina Melvina.
Mom didn’t name me after my two grandmothers. Thank you, Mom.
Experimenting with Technology
In her post for LAPC this week, Tina Schell of Travels and Trifles talked about changes in technology, especially in photography. This post took me hours to do because of all the experimentation I did with technology. It couldn’t have been accomplished at all twenty or more years ago. My dad would have loved to see this day and do what I am able to do with the click of a key.
Made Possible by iPhone, Lightroom, and Canva
I saved the best for last, a sad, gravely chipped little ornamental angel lying on the ground a distance from any gravesite.
She almost looks like she’s floating. I tried to play with Photoshop a bit but I am like this little angel without her wings when I try to work in Photoshop. So I took this lost angel to Canva and experimented with their new technology.
Colleen Chesebro from Unicorn Publishing Services expanded my mind to also experiment with syllabic poetry. Senryu is similar to Haiku using 3 lines with a 2-3-2 syllable pattern. Unlike Haiku it is not about nature but more about the human condition or emotions.
busted discarded forlorn ©Marsha Ingrao 2023 Senryu
The lost angel lost her background.
tiny uplifted angel ©Marsha Ingrao 2023 Senryu
Then she put her background back on and became a mosaic.
pieces together a new life ©Marsha Ingrao 2023 Senryu
Next, she and her bed of dirt, grasses, and twigs turned into a quilt. Speaking of technology, I forgot to put a comma after next. Oh well, Grammarly has my back. Where was she when I was in school? I don’t mind the red underline when Miss Grammarly uses it!
image untarnished as art ©Marsha Ingrao 2023 Senryu
This was the last paint effect in Canva called Barka.
modern angular remade ©Marsha Ingrao 2023 Senryu
One More Quick Look at Sharlot Hall
The building that I thought was the Governor’s Mansion actually belonged to the Bashfords, local merchants. There were some photos of Mrs. Bashford in the home, and she was so pretty in grays and whites, that I took a photo of her picture just for today’s challenge.
This last picture started a conversation about handwriting in our group. It turns out that another one of the Sunday Stills participants, Shelly, had a similar line of thought for today’s post.
Handwriting is a lost art. We replicate it with different fonts on the computer, but few people write by putting pen or pencil to paper. Do you know anyone who can write this straight and perfectly slanted, beautifully formed letters on unlined paper?
That’s it for today. I couldn’t wait to post these until Wednesday. I invite you to share photos, stories and comments about what piques your interest this week on Wednesday Quotes.
Upcoming and Ongoing on Always Write
- WQ Page
- WQ #2 January 11 WHAT PIQUES YOUR INTEREST?
- WQ #3 January 18: BELLY LAUGH/WHITE OR GRAY COLOR CHALLENGE ALIGNED WITH AN UPCOMING SUNDAY STILLS
- WQ #4: January 25: ENVELOPED/WRITER’S CHOICE/DOUBLE DIP CHALLENGES/
Marsha Ingrao - Always Write 
81 responses to “Looking Back at Prescott in Grays and Whites”
[…] lot of time experimenting with Lightroom and Canva this week and several people commented about my Canva angel. The pictures I edited today were all done in Lightroom to make them as compelling as possible. I […]
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Marsha, these were great choices for the theme.
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Thanks Kirstin.
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[…] a tiny bit of gray here, but it’s negligible. To see more grays, here are some of my ideas. But if you want to address grays and whites in this challenge and double dip, you are welcome to […]
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Fascinating look into IOOF Cemetery, enjoyed this immensely. There are many lichened, crumbled and neglected, alas some almost completely forgotten, cemeteries here that I’ve found in the wilderness. This one especially reminds me of one that I found in the foothills of the Adirondacks here just recently. Many of the stones are no-longer legible, many split and crumbled.
Har, over 20 years ago I was fiddling around with a program that’s still around, but not as popular as other programs today- Corel Draw. I would still be using it, but my PC is out of order, so it sits in there entombed until I can fix it. Meanwhile, I’ve been working with Photoshop for the first time. So many advantages/disadvantages to the myriads of programs out there now. For directly painting onto a photograph, I still prefer Corel- it is my old friend.
I remember one of the first gags I did on Corel back in the early 2000s, I think 2003- I took a very drab, proper-looking advertisement image for my second cousin’s law office, and gave his dull, stamped-down hairdo an upgrade to a large cheerful afro (he used to have an afro as a teen). I happily printed it and sent it to him. I’m sure he was pleased.
Har I write on paper everyday. An anachronism I is. Image of Mrs Bashford is majestic.
As usual, loved every moment of your post.
See you, Nina Melvina 😉
-toad
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PS
Forgot to mention how much I enjoyed your angelic Canva manipulations/abstractions and your wonderful Senryu poems. Bliss. Pure bliss. Cheers
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You are so sweet! Both the poem and the angel were a lot of fun.
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Vince has used Corel, but I never used it. I have used Paint because it comes with my computer, but Canva is my go to. Everyone seems to have their own favorites, and they all work like charms if you know the tricks.
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Paint, an exquisite program- though some of us are wont to abuse it…🙃 https://www.dropbox.com/s/vktzoc762fkxzk8/hatty.jpg?dl=0
Grins. I’m sure you’re so thrilled that I’m back polluting your comment section.
Well, suffering builds character, at least 😉 Cheers- autumn jade
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I am always thrilled to have you back putting life into my comment section. I remember when you were writing posts in my comment section, LOL!
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Oh dear…https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/001/635/957/7d9.jpg
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I saw that. Did you take it?
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No. And I felt like a boob for sending it right after I saw your next post on humour and how you prefer animal memes. Sigh- precisely how I feel:
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Funny! Better a cat than a rat! 🙂
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I like her face. I looks almost like the puzzle I just worked.
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Sounds like a peculiar puzzle. 😉
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Some puzzles are pequliar. I’m always looking for good ones.
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Great post Marsha! Your pictures and poems are so awesome. I’m always blown away by how much you capture and your ability. Your photos are exquisite. Gorgeous colors in the angel! ❣️
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Thanks, not bad for a gray angel.
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Really enjoyed viewing and reading here Marsha! I too went to a ‘local to us’ cemetery here recently, as we will be leaving this area in the next 3 months, I decided to check out a place I had driven past a lot. I did take some pics and I think they will get an airing in Sunday Stills soon.
The name thing…”never complain” it could have been worse….ha!
Denyse. x
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Hi Denyse, glad to have you visiting. I hope your move goes well. You’re moving to Sydney, right? Watch out, I might come see you one of these years. I haven’t seen Sydney yet, and it looks so lovely. There will be old cemeteries there to explore. When we moved here, Vince and I had a ball exploring. Now we mostly take our visitors to the places we’ve been. The exception was Sharlot Hall Museum where our blogger meetup went.
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Things to do on a dreary day….read Marsha’s posts. Always worth a smile 😁💕
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Awwww Thanks for the kind words, Jo. I’m trying to think of pictures that will give a belly laugh for tomorrow’s theme. My mind is blank right now! I visit your posts to get a vicarious walk without having to expend much energy, and a bite of cake with no calories. 🙂
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😉🍰💕
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hahaha
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Marsha, thank you so much for the mention. You photographs were so interesting, and the senryu poems were spot on! (Pssst… you’re going to love this week’s poetry challenge). I loved all the gray and white imagery. I feel like I went on a mini vacation! LOL! 🧡
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You might not visit an old cemetery, though! Thanks. I’ll check out your post tomorrow.
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I love looking around old graveyards like this and I don’t find your comments and photos at all disrespectful – quite the opposite! Your Canva edits are fun and you make a great point about about hand-writing – although mine was never anywhere near that good!
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Nor was my handwriting ever that beautiful. It shows what is possible with years of practice. thank you for you kind remarks.
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Marsha, you’ve truly met the theme of the Lens-Artists challenge this week. I am all but convinced that I need to get Canva, and it wouldn’t take me much to pull that trigger when we get home to Fargo in a few weeks! My favorite angel is the quilted one.
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I like her best, too, John. I was thrilled with these and the total ease of creating them.
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You are such an artistic, clever soul! All most interesting. I used to point the camera and click…but anything complicated and I was lost… HOWEVER, I did Pitman’s Handwriting at college and even my shorthand didn’t stop me from keeping a straight line…My dear Dad used to do beautiful calligraphy, which I always tried to emulate. His stamp collections were works of art. Cheers! x
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How fun. My dad had beautiful printing. He was an engineer. I always loved it and emulate his a’s sometimes.
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There’s something about your writing that is uplifting, fun and interesting. That post is a breeze and it has gravestones, how do you do it? I loved it, by the way. Everything about it, I’m still smilling. Thank you 🙂
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WOW! thanks, so much. What a nice thing to say. How do people write what they do? I wonder that, too. Some people write such soulful poetry, deep reflections, wise words. That doesn’t seem like my lot in writing. I am light and breezy, never delving in too much, I think. Our styles reflect our inner selves. One of my blogging friends writes the most interesting travel posts – very professional and didactic, but still interesting and fun. I get too carried away and random to do that. LOL
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What a unique and fun post. Had a laugh with the story about your mom being named after her grandmothers. 😁
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Funny but true. I did actually inherit one of my grandmother’s names, but it’s also my father’s. I could have been Tressie Harriette. I would have complained.
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Superb post, Marsha 👏 I love the Canva edits of the angel; I like the paint effects they have 😃
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Hi Jez! I adore Canva. It is so easy to work. I tried Photoshop and flopped. I didn’t have all night, so when I went to Canva, there were these new filters – WIN! How are you? Say hi to Susan. 🙂
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It was Susan that put me onto Canva; she’s brilliant with it. I’ve never tried Photoshop, I looked at it once & it looked far to time intensive to learn even the basics. I’ve done a few Canva edits using the paint effects & also had some really cool effects using the distortion filters with Lensy. Susna says “hi 👋” back.
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The special effects are fun and can make almost any photo seem like a painting.
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I was a ble to come up with some great surreal effects using Canva to edit some of Lensy’s shots 😃
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I’m very impressed with your ability to play with Canva, photoshop and the way you’ve captured the shots.
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Thank you, Sadje. I love Canva and they have made some major improvements with it since I started using it.
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You’re most welcome
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A monumental post, Marsha. 😉 But ‘gravely’ chipped? Oh my! I love the stained glass effects, et al. Nice looking. M’lady has good script. Mine is rough and not curvy smooth, but doable. I like that it’s secret code which the younger generation can’t read. At least we have one thing up on them.
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I’m laughing out loud because so far you’re the only one who caught that! It takes some careful reading, I guess. 🙂 I catch up with you tomorrow. It’s after midnight.
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And…my mother-in-law has perfect penmanship. Its a bit irritating. lol
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It’s also highly unusual even for older people.
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I love that you ventured to a cemetery to finds grays and also history and looking back. It was perfect. Kinda creepy that you were brave enough to look in the one hole. I am glad there were rocks instead of someone looking back at you. Your editing with the angel was a fun follow. It sounds like it was fun and beneficial blogger meet up. I love the first gravestone. And I love the history of cemeteries.
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I love to look at the stones. They are so different. We had quite an imaginative journey. Janet has her take on the cemetery tomorrow, I think. It will be entirely different than mine.
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I will check in with her tomorrow. Love all your adventures.
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I do too, Hope to see you next time!
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It’s on my calendar.
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I enjoyed my wander about the cemetery Marsha. The angel photo edits are so much fun. You can see why I like playing with my reflection abstracts for our Jezs WWE.
OK Grammarly So you have Marshas back do you?
“Oh well, Grammarly has my back. Where was she when I was in school? I don’t might the red underline when Miss Grammarly uses it!”
Well there’s a fail 😂
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Yeah, Terri found it too. LOL! It wasn’t misspelled!
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I thought grammarly was for Grammar? Spellcheck for spelling
Oh dear I am afraid I am out of touch with writing editors. I am my own best editor but still miss things.
I do enjoy your blog-ups with bloggers. I should get out more and be in contact with some Aussie bloggers to do something. Trouble is everyone is a long way from my place and only a couple in the region.
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Well, as you can see, we are not a huge group and Phoenix is a huge place!
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Yeah I guess so. The nearest blogger I know of near me is about 200kms away
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I know several in AU now, but when I was there I only knew 2 well, one in Toowoomba and one in Melbourn. I saw them both!
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Wow, you went all in with this post and the subsequent challenges you shared. I’m still chuckling at Nina Melvina…what a great story! 🙂 your gray and white photos from graveyards to angels are very poignant. Before last fall’s fire in Michigan Bluff, over the years we loved to walk to the Masonic cemetery and gawk at all the souls who lived/died at the height of the Gold Rush in 1849.
Your poetry forms aptly describe the angel’s changes using photo editing tech! Nicely done with the Canva filters–didn’t know the app had them–those turned out great–will one become a puzzle?
You MIGHT want to have a chat with Ms Grammarly…she left you hanging in the paragraph just before your last angel…. xoxox
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Oh no! It’s weird but once I’ve published, there are always new red marks. 🙂
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Grammarly is weird sometimes in wordpress.
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Bush Boy got a big laugh out of my mistake. That ought to go on my post for Wednesday. I can’t tell you how many times I read that post before I pressed pubish!
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There is a reason I don’t write after 5-6pm. I never know what I’m going to type!
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I can’t use that excuse. I finished it all before 4:00 pm. Oh well, just another of my imperfections.
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We all have them. My brain refuses to cooperate after then.
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True that! Just made my 10,000 steps for today.
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😲 awesome, not me!
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That was one I barely made it. I felt great when the celebration hit my arm at 11:55. I had started at 2,000, and I had to huff to get in 8,000 steps starting around 10:30.
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LOL, I finally found it! It wasn’t spelled wrong!
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Poor little angel. It makes me wonder whose resting place she once adorned.
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You couldn’t tell from her surroundings. We have had some big wind storms, though, so I doubt if it was vandalism.
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Well this may be the first time I ever start a sentence with “loved your graves” but indeed I did! I especially loved your versions of the little angel. I used CANVA to create some greeting cards quite a long time ago and really enjoyed it but haven’t looked at it in years. Good for you for the experimenting! And thanks so much for the mention, and for linking with us this week. You rock!!
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I do rock, just like a grandma! Thanks for the fast response. It’s amazing to get comments even before I finish linking! 🙂 This was a great topic for a history lover especially!
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I’m doing an IOOF post tomorrow but thankfully not the same stones except for the first. I enjoyed the cemetery visit. 😉. Enjoyed the whole visit of course. Fun seeing your editing.
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I did a double take when I read the word editing. You knew I had a huge grammar mistake in the paragraph bragging about the efficacy of Grammarly, right? I’ve corrected it now, but how embarrassing. 🙂
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I meant your editing on the photo changes. 🙂
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🙂
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I love the photo effects with that poor lost angel! And I kind of want to write a story about her 🙂
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Be my guest. I’d love to share it on my blog. You can copy the photos or I can send them to you.
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