John Ford, Juan Diego, and owls

My power was out last Wednesday from 9:30 am to 7 pm in a planned outage. A crew came, opened up the street in front of my building, and spent the day replacing an electrical switch.

Things I can't do without power: Computers, phone calls (I have a land-line only), cooking (I have an electric range and stove), grocery shopping (need the elevator to haul up the bags).

What I did for 9.5 hours:

Worked on laptop on battery power: 1 hour.

Exercised by walking around the neighborhood while reading, then took a shower by flashlight: 2 hours.

Drove to the nearby cemetery to take more pix with my new digital camera: 3.5 hours.

Read more of my book: 1 hour.

Napped: 2 hours.

I see dead people, or, more fun at cemeteries

If you're wondering what this power failure has to do with John Ford, Juan Diego, and owls, it was my excuse for taking the day off and visiting the nearby cemetery. Which means it's time for another posting of cemetery pix. As usual, I strained to the breaking point to find a Native connection.

Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery--Apr. 8, 2009
Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery--Jan. 6, 2009
Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery--Nov. 7, 2008

When I moved to Culver City after grad school, I didn't realize it was such a prime burial ground for Hollywood's royalty. On one side of me are Al Jolson, Jack Benny, and Milton Berle. On the other side are Bing Crosby, Rita Hayworth, and Jimmy Durante. Hard to say who'd win a battle of the stars.

Alas, the Catholics buried nearby, like the Jews buried nearby, aren't well-connected to Indians. The Catholics get big points for John Ford, but that's about it. The Jews counter with Lorne Greene and Michael Landon of Bonanza, Jeff Chandler of Broken Arrow, and Ben Frommer of F Troop. As with the cemeteries in general, it's a toss-up.

Anyway, enjoy my pix of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph; St. Patrick, St. Francis, and St. Andrew Kim; and Santa Claus, Frosty the Snowman, and the Easter Bunny--the giants of Catholic theology. And have a happy Easter!

For more on the subject, see Tribes Didn't Have Cemeteries and Pix of Hillside Memorial Park.