The bus tour we took wound by a
large
number of interesting sites. The driver explained that preparing for
Mardi Gras is a year round occupation in New Orleans, and that "People
here are serious about the oak trees. Somebody would probably be better
off killing a person than they would be if they chopped down one of the
old trees." My eyes were about to glaze over when we finally pulled
over at the cemetery, where we learned a lot about New Orleans culture.
While we were gathering this statue
caught my father's eye. He remembers a friend who thought highly of
Padre Pio. The fine print above the guys name reads "This humble
Capuchin friar surprised the world with his life totally dedicated to
prayer and to listening to his brothers and sisters. His body, marked
by the stigmata, demonstrated the intimate connection between death and
resurrection." It's more than I knew about the guy before I saw
the thing.
All around us were rows and rows of
Tombs, ranging in size from meat
locker to storage shed or small garage. The guide explained that in the
early days of the city, human bodies were buried in below ground
graves, as they are many other places. The problems came when the city
flooded. Coffins had a tendency to float up out of the ground, and
people might see them going through town with all the other flood
debris. The family tombs above ground system is what they settled on.
After each dead body is interred, its door is sealed for at least a
year and a day. After that time it is opened when someone else from the
same group is ready to go in. At that time all there is left in the
coffin is a skeleton. Usually those bones are collected into a bag and
put in the back or the bottom of the tomb with everyone else, making
room for the fresh coffin.
These are pictures of one of the
larger and nicer tombs. Each of the openings in this tomb is about the
right size for a coffin to fit in. The list of names on each door show
who aged to dust there.
The guide referred to gathering a
familys bones in the back of a tomb as "keeping a family together." He
said several times that having a tomb in your family is a very good
deal in the long run, even though it was a large expense up front.
After we left the cemetery we saw
many of the nicest houses in New Orleans. There were way too many of
them for me remember much about any particular one.