Oakland Cemetery

Posted on 4 May 2009 by Erik Hare | 6 Comments

The scraggly oak trees form a tall ceiling that shades the entire drive. It’s not that a view of the sun and sky would be unpleasant on this warm day of early spring, but it’s nice to have it blocked all the same. The appropriate view of the eternal isn’t blue and bright, but sheltered close to the ground. The rows of marble and granite dazzled by bright flowers that give it a sense of redemption, but the 5 MPH speed limit and gentle wave from each passerby that gives it grace.

This is Oakland Cemetery, Saint Paul’s municipal cemetery, founded in 1853.

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Ghost Story

Posted on 8 April 2009 by Erik Hare | 3 Comments

The house is dim and dirty. The paint is peeling from the clapboard sides. The only sound is the wrought iron fence gate, swinging in a wind that runs through your spine. As the image sinks into your memory, you notice one more thing – up in the tower something is moving, pacing the floor as if they have a century’s worth of worry worn deep into the path on the floor.

From there, it’s pretty much as expected. Screams, murder, mayhem, and an unnecessary trip to the first floor later, it all winds up in ninety minutes. But aren’t these stories for Fall, not Spring?

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Jackson

Posted on 18 February 2009 by Erik Hare | 8 Comments

You may know him from the twenty dollar bill, but that may be a fleeting glance. These bills come and go from our lives and there is only so much that you can tell from them. The engraver put a bit of sadness into Jackson’s eyes, a sense of weight that doesn’t quite seem right. Wasn’t he a man of determination and strength? Yet the portrait is accurate in its own way, telling us about the legacy of Jackson that is harder to bear than the man himself. In Jackson’s story, we have the story of our people.

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Count Your Blessings

Posted on 17 December 2008 by Erik Hare | 5 Comments

This year, people don’t have the holiday cheer they are supposed to. Everyone looks a little frazzled and tired, and their tolerance for other people isn’t very high. No, I’m not talking about the economy, although that might have something to do with it. This has to do with solar flares.

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Cultural Catholic

Posted on 18 April 2008 by Erik Hare | 5 Comments

Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to the USofA has given many people a reason to think about what it means to be Catholic. This is a secular land where religious identities and practices meld and mix with each generation. What is a Catholic in this world?

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