21 November 2009

Dear Friends of Spring Hill Cemetery,

This will be a short recap, to go with yesterday's abbreviated workday.  Nine hardy volunteers arrived to a constant rain.  Luckily, Regional Parks had the tool trailer and dump truck ready for us to begin working immediately.  Through gusty winds, drenching rain, and bone chilling cold, we managed to fill the dump truck in record time.   I have never seen us ever work so quickly before....

In removing the debris pile, Kirston came across a juvenile Rubber Boa Snake (see last picture). Rubber boas are the most docile of snakes, and this one was a pleasure to find. They are not endangered or particularly rare, but they are seldom encountered. With the abundance of leaves and undergrowth, Spring Hill is an ideal environment for our little friend.

Although our time was short on Friday, we did manage to remove last month's debris pile, collected and removed fallen branches from the cemetery, and checked all headstones to ensure they were positioned so that their inscriptions would be readable for those visiting the cemetery during our winter stoppage. About 40 minutes into our work, the steady rain became a deluge. We quickly snapped our ending group picture (a bit too quickly for Rick - sorry Rick for not getting you in the picture!), loaded the tool trailer, and fled to Evelyn's house to warm up with some delicious soup (many, many thanks, Evelyn).

Traditionally, at the end of our November workday I take a picture of our serene cemetery to document how it was left for the winter. But yesterday my camera was too waterlogged, and I was running for the car. Once again the holidays are fast approaching, and we will suspend workdays until 2010 (most likely February, details will follow). Please continue to send me any information you find on Spring Hill or its inhabitants. And, Happy Holidays!