What else is there to do on a cloudy, windy, cold day in February? When everyone else is thinking about hearts and valentines, my thoughts turn to touring local cemeteries. The older the better, and Houston has some really old ones. Fortunately for me, I am not the only one who enjoys a visit with the dearly departed. My WiVLA sister (That’s the Women in the Visual and Literary Arts for those of you not in the know) and friend, Sabina Gartler is also interested in perambulating amongst the tombstones. This particular picture of Sabina was taken at Founders Memorial Park in downtown Houston. Neither one of us could figure out what was going on with this tree. It was as if it was being eaten from the inside out. Or maybe this is where the local ghosts go inside when it is cold outside. Who’s to say? I don’t judge.
While visiting the Founders Memorial Park, you will find some famous names of those persons who founded this great city. However, I had never heard of the Hogans. Apparently they have some relatives, who are keeping up appearances for their loved ones. I especially like graves with photographs. It appears as if James was a Sheriff at one time. That’s him and his wife in the round photo. After visiting this grave, I almost feel as if I know this family now. I might have to return on major holidays to leave flowers or something. If you want to see what the entire Hogan clan looks like look below:
Another interesting cemetery in Houston is St. Vincent de Paul on Navigation. Here I found St. Michael guarding the grounds.
But enough of the traditional old cemeteries. The rest of the day was spent 
walking around the grounds of the Elder Street Lofts. It used to be an old city cemetery, but all that is left are these two plots . The building itself, which used to be Jefferson Davis Hospital, is now home to artists and creatives. From the front this building looks like any historic building, but when you walk around the back, that is where the artistic flair begins to really show itself.
For instance, there is this nice blue building painted with skulls and surrounded by pink flamingos. I do not know the purpose of the building, but it looks really neat considering it is across the fence from the City of Houston Fire Department Maintenance Depot. There are random pieces of art scattered about in between different small gardens.
Of course. everyone has heard that the Elder Street Lofts is haunted from all of the graves that are buried under the buildings, depots, and streets. I guess that is why there is this circle of tree stumps. This gives the ghosts a nice place to gather at night and catch up on the day’s news. When the City Cemetery first began way back when, it was located on the outskirts of the city. Now it is just to one side of downtown. I hope the ethereal residents have enjoyed watching all the activity.
Sabina and I are planning for further cemetery and art crawls in the future. Haven’t decided where yet.
Until next time.….