Photography – M.A. Kleen

D.C. Cherry Blossoms 2020

My wife and I finally made it to see the cherry blossoms in Washington, D.C., something on my to-do list since moving to this area over a year ago. Despite fears of Covid-19, official cancellation of the festival, and warnings to stay away from large groups, hundreds of people couldn’t resist the allure of the blossoms.

A plummeting stock market and fears of pandemic were a stark contrast to this beautiful spring morning and the bright pink cherry blossoms. We did see some visitors wearing masks, but otherwise it was just a typical day.

Our corgi, Leo, was upset he couldn’t get any pets from passersby.

Crawford’s One-Stop Shop

Eclectic sign for Crawford Confectionery & Gifts at 12 N Main Street in Boonsboro, Maryland. Restaurant, guns, and ammo – what else do you need?

Last Illumination

Monument to Thomas Trueman Gaff (1854-1923) in St. Paul’s Rock Creek Cemetery, 201 Allison Street NW, Washington, DC. This bronze figure in a hooded robe was sculpted by Jules B. Dechin in Paris, 1922. Gaff’s epitaph reads “EXCEPIT ILLUM MAGNA, ET AETERNA PAX”, which is Latin for “Welcomed by a great and everlasting peace”.

Diplomat Motel

Angel Unfurled

A majestic bronze angel dedicated to William and Dorothea Rueger in Hollywood Cemetery, 412 S. Cherry Street in Richmond, Virginia. William Rueger (1857-1936) was born in Richmond and his wife, Dorothea W. Vocke (1859-1909) was a German immigrant from Vlotho in North Rhine-Westphalia. The couple had one son.

William Rueger owned a hotel and saloon, carrying on the family business from his father and grandfather. He opened the luxurious Hotel Rueger at 901 Bank Street in 1913, which later changed hands and became the Commonwealth Park Suites Hotel. The angel’s scroll reads “They that lie here rest in peace.”

The Store Famous Coke Sign

Bitter Veils of Solemnity

Monument to James and Sarah Schermerhorn and family in Cortland Rural Cemetery, 110 Tompkins Street, Cortland, Cortland County, New York. James A. Schermerhorn was a lawyer of Dutch ancestry. His father had been a banker, legislator, and one-time mayor of Rochester, New York. At least ten Schermerhorns are buried in the shadow of this lovely granite monument.

Cortland Rural Cemetery was established in 1853. Its drive is lined with wonderfully informative interpretive signs with information about prominent burials, interesting monuments, and the materials from which those monuments were made.