{"id":652,"date":"2016-10-28T17:36:25","date_gmt":"2016-10-28T22:36:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\/?p=652"},"modified":"2016-10-28T17:36:25","modified_gmt":"2016-10-28T22:36:25","slug":"obnoxious-cedar-trees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\/?p=652","title":{"rendered":"OBNOXIOUS CEDAR TREES"},"content":{"rendered":"

As a child I heard occasional comments about a cedar tree in the country cemetery at Necessity, Texas.\u00a0 It was obscuring my grandfather\u2019s tombstone.\u00a0 I began to notice it more and more after my grandmother\u2019s death in 1950.\u00a0 My grandfather had died seventeen years earlier, and the family had placed a double stone at his grave.\u00a0 When my grandmother died, the tree completely covered both sides of the stone. \u00a0I wondered how workers were going to inscribe her death date on the stone. \u00a0Somehow, they did. \u00a0Perhaps they lay on their stomachs to work.<\/p>\n

For many years, I thought little about the tree and another growing beside it. \u00a0During the seventies, we began regularly attending the annual gatherings held at the cemetery.\u00a0 By this time, the trees were also hanging over my parents\u2019 tombstones.\u00a0 It was impossible to walk around the stones in our plot. Ken felt it was inconsiderate that the trees had been allowed to cover my grandparents\u2019 stone and were about to do the same to my parents\u2019 stones.\u00a0 He began to inquire whether anyone ever came to care for the graves in the plots around the trees. No one seemed to know the family. We never saw anyone there.\u00a0 There were old sandstone markers on the ground. \u00a0He wanted to cut the trees down.\u00a0 My brother told him that if they were cut down, everyone would think that he had cut them.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t want that responsibility in the event someone might be upset.\u00a0 Ken reluctantly agreed not to chop down the cedar trees.\u00a0 The trees continued to grow taller and fuller.\u00a0 They irritated Ken more and more.\u00a0 He disappeared one day, saying he was going to do some work at the cemetery. \u00a0I didn\u2019t ask what he was going to do, and he offered no information. \u00a0I did not see a chain saw, so I did not think he could do too much damage.<\/p>\n

The next time we went to the cemetery, Ken kept looking at the trees in disbelief.\u00a0 \u00a0I saw him talking seriously to my brother.\u00a0 My brother had a, \u201cYou did what?\u201d look on his face.\u00a0 I suspected that the trees had been given a dose of something, and that Ken was expecting them to at least look sickly.\u00a0 However, whatever he did to them did not have the expected results.\u00a0 It was like he had fertilized them.\u00a0 They flourished, growing even taller and fuller.<\/p>\n

My brother died in 2003.\u00a0 Some time later, we went to the cemetery.\u00a0 This time the chain saw went along.\u00a0 We pulled up to the plot.\u00a0 The trees were going to be history.<\/p>\n

We looked in disbelief.\u00a0 In shock, we got out and walked over to the trees.\u00a0 The area around them was cleaned.\u00a0 The old stones had been reset.\u00a0 There was a bench and a flat marker between the trees.\u00a0 \u00a0Forget cutting them down.\u00a0 They were now a sanctuary.<\/p>\n

\"Trees<\/a>
Trees planted by Lizzie (Knight)
Smith in 1934 after the death
of her husband John A. Smith
She often carried water by hand
from a tank from half
mile away<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"20160905_152213\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"20160905_152150\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Several years ago, my grandparent\u2019s stone needed some repair.\u00a0 The family surname was facing away from the trees.\u00a0 I asked Ken\u2019s opinion about having the workmen turn the stone with the surname facing the trees.\u00a0 He thought it would be a good idea as the names, birth dates, and death dates of every one in the plot would be facing the same direction. \u00a0 He did casually mention that their names would be reversed.\u00a0 I had not considered that.<\/p>\n

One cousin and I are their only remaining grandchildren.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I called my cousin and asked if he had any objections to turning the stone.\u00a0 He said, \u201cDo it.\u201d\u00a0 I then mentioned that their names would be reversed.\u00a0 He thought for a second, and said, \u201cI will never tell.\u201d\u00a0 I told him that I was reasonably sure they would not object.\u00a0 So, I did it.\u00a0 My grandmother\u2019s name, Lenora Williams, is now over my grandfather\u2019s grave.\u00a0 His name, Henry R. Williams, is now over my grandmother\u2019s grave.\u00a0 I visualize my little grandmother looking down from above with an amused smile on her face.<\/p>\n

\"20160905_152024\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We also had curbing put around the plot.\u00a0 When we went to check out the work, the workmen had trimmed the trees in order to work under them. \u00a0We can now walk underneath them.<\/p>\n

The old trees have survived wind, rain, snow and drought.\u00a0 Here is how they look now: old and scraggly.<\/p>\n

\"20160905_152345\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As a child I heard occasional comments about a cedar tree in the country cemetery at Necessity, Texas.  It was obscuring my grandfather’s tombstone.  I began to notice it more and more after my grandmother’s death in 1950.  My grandfather had died seventeen years earlier, and the family had placed a double stone at his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,1],"tags":[193,194],"class_list":["post-652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-other-things","category-uncategorized","tag-cedar-trees","tag-tombstones"],"yoast_head":"\nOBNOXIOUS CEDAR TREES - Loose Strings From The Past<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Cedar trees obscuring tombstones a nuisance\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\/?p=652\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"OBNOXIOUS CEDAR TREES - Loose Strings From The Past\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Cedar trees obscuring tombstones a nuisance\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\/?p=652\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Loose Strings From The Past\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-10-28T22:36:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/20160501_182206-1-300x225.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Charlcyann\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Facebook \/ Twitter\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Charlcyann\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\\\/?p=652#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\\\/?p=652\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Charlcyann\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b6883dc5d89ffbbb2b15c172811bc849\"},\"headline\":\"OBNOXIOUS CEDAR TREES\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-10-28T22:36:25+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\\\/?p=652\"},\"wordCount\":766,\"commentCount\":4,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\\\/?p=652#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/10\\\/20160501_182206-1-300x225.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"cedar trees\",\"tombstones\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Other Things\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\\\/?p=652#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\\\/?p=652\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\\\/?p=652\",\"name\":\"OBNOXIOUS CEDAR TREES - Loose Strings From The Past\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\\\/?p=652#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\\\/?p=652#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/10\\\/20160501_182206-1-300x225.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-10-28T22:36:25+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b6883dc5d89ffbbb2b15c172811bc849\"},\"description\":\"Cedar trees obscuring tombstones a nuisance\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\\\/?p=652#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\\\/?p=652\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\\\/?p=652#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/10\\\/20160501_182206-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/10\\\/20160501_182206-1.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1920,\"caption\":\"Trees planted by Lizzie (Knight) Smith in 1934 after the death of her husband John A. Smith She often carried water by hand from a tank from half mile away\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\\\/?p=652#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"OBNOXIOUS CEDAR TREES\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Loose Strings From The Past\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b6883dc5d89ffbbb2b15c172811bc849\",\"name\":\"Charlcyann\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1211901ffa2d73434e1d5ffd4eb234cb429ea1662daf1ab2ac8b2de3f21d1964?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1211901ffa2d73434e1d5ffd4eb234cb429ea1662daf1ab2ac8b2de3f21d1964?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1211901ffa2d73434e1d5ffd4eb234cb429ea1662daf1ab2ac8b2de3f21d1964?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Charlcyann\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/Facebook \\\/ Twitter\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"OBNOXIOUS CEDAR TREES - Loose Strings From The Past","description":"Cedar trees obscuring tombstones a nuisance","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\/?p=652","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"OBNOXIOUS CEDAR TREES - Loose Strings From The Past","og_description":"Cedar trees obscuring tombstones a nuisance","og_url":"https:\/\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\/?p=652","og_site_name":"Loose Strings From The Past","article_published_time":"2016-10-28T22:36:25+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/20160501_182206-1-300x225.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Charlcyann","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Facebook \/ Twitter","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Charlcyann","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\/?p=652#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\/?p=652"},"author":{"name":"Charlcyann","@id":"https:\/\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b6883dc5d89ffbbb2b15c172811bc849"},"headline":"OBNOXIOUS CEDAR TREES","datePublished":"2016-10-28T22:36:25+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\/?p=652"},"wordCount":766,"commentCount":4,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\/?p=652#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/20160501_182206-1-300x225.jpg","keywords":["cedar trees","tombstones"],"articleSection":["Other Things"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\/?p=652#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\/?p=652","url":"https:\/\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\/?p=652","name":"OBNOXIOUS CEDAR TREES - Loose Strings From The Past","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\/?p=652#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\/?p=652#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/20160501_182206-1-300x225.jpg","datePublished":"2016-10-28T22:36:25+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b6883dc5d89ffbbb2b15c172811bc849"},"description":"Cedar trees obscuring tombstones a nuisance","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\/?p=652#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\/?p=652"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\/?p=652#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/20160501_182206-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/20160501_182206-1.jpg","width":2560,"height":1920,"caption":"Trees planted by Lizzie (Knight) Smith in 1934 after the death of her husband John A. Smith She often carried water by hand from a tank from half mile away"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\/?p=652#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"OBNOXIOUS CEDAR TREES"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\/","name":"Loose Strings From The Past","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b6883dc5d89ffbbb2b15c172811bc849","name":"Charlcyann","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1211901ffa2d73434e1d5ffd4eb234cb429ea1662daf1ab2ac8b2de3f21d1964?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1211901ffa2d73434e1d5ffd4eb234cb429ea1662daf1ab2ac8b2de3f21d1964?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1211901ffa2d73434e1d5ffd4eb234cb429ea1662daf1ab2ac8b2de3f21d1964?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Charlcyann"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/Facebook \/ Twitter"],"url":"https:\/\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=652"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":654,"href":"https:\/\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652\/revisions\/654"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}