Animals Roaming Cemeteries Update, and Some Famous Friends

Rome: cats
Amherst: skunk
Green-Wood: groundhogs (?)
Woodlawn: Bronx Ninja Squirrels™ and wild turkeys

Woodlawn is only 25 miles from my aunt's house in Connecticut!  That's astonishing (just ask my mom).  It also made the wild turkeys less of an inexplicable sight, since they hang out along the Merritt Parkway all the time.

Last time I went there I missed seeing many famous people; and Woodlawn has a lot of famous people.  And not-so-famous people—it's a flippin' big cemetery.  This time I actually went by the office and filled in the paperwork to take pictures, which was worth it for the chance to talk to a security guard, who was nice in the way particular to New Yorkers.

As it was April, we did get rained on a bit as we drove through the grounds.  The sun came out eventually, though, and the weather didn't ruin the experience at all. 

Famous People I Visited
David Glasgow Farragut
The first admiral of the US Navy; our school in Spain was named for him.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Suffragette.

Fiorello LaGuardia
Annie's "mayor five foot two," for whom the airport was named (as well as P.S. 205, the elementary school next to my building in the Bronx).  I quite enjoy the little flower, in tribute to his name and nickname.

Joseph Pulitzer
Influential newspaper owner.  I am grateful to Pulitzer because in 1885 he, via the New York World, helped raise funds to complete the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty. 

George M. Cohan
Born on Independence Day and composer of "I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy," "You're a Grand Old Flag," and "Over There," among many more.  His mausoleum is appropriately adorned with flags, and we sang him one of his songs.

Ida and Isidor Straus
Among those who lost their lives when the Titanic went down were the co-owners of Macy's.  Their plot features an ark, with their surname on the outside; within the gates are the rest of their personal information, along with the words "Many waters cannot quench love—neither can the floods drown it."  That made me the most emotional of anything there.

Duke Ellington
The bandleader born Edward Kennedy Ellington, famous for such tunes as "Take the A Train," "Caravan," "Sophisticated Lady," and, oh yeah, "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got that Swing)."

The mausoleum below is the size of our house a small chapel, and sports some insanely intricate carvings that would fit in on a French cathedral.  As always, I'm glad that people of the past had enough money to leave behind extravagant tombs for me to marvel at.