Martha's Vineyard ~ Part Three

Chuck and I did a little exploring today.  We headed down to Chilmark to look for the "special secret place" that the owner of our house mentioned.  It appears that there is a spot where you can kayak across a pond and then walk over a dune to a beach right on the ocean!  The directions said that we would see a Nature Conservancy sign near Abel's Hill and across the street from the cemetary where John Belushi is buried. 

We found the "special secret spot" (which will be a trip for another day), but first we stopped to see John Belushi's grave.

The epitath reads: "I may be gone, but Rock and Roll lives on".

Lots of fans pay special tribute to the "Blues Brother".

We were curious about John Belushi's link to Martha's Vineyard and asked the attendant at the "special secret spot" (a nice young man from Lowell, Massachusetts who spends his summers working on the Vineyard). He told us that John Belushi had a house on the Vineyard ( his brother Jim and Dan Akyrod still have homes here).  He told us that Dan Akyrod keeps up the memorial and that John Belushi is not actually buried in the spot where the headstone is, but at another spot in the cemetary that is known only to the family. 

Seeing John Belushi's grave peaked my curiosity about headstones (no, I don't have a morbid fascination), and the unique markings on several of the headstones (note the skull and crossbones).  So....off we went to the West Tisbury Cemetary where I had seen the grave with all the chickens.

I did a little research after seeing this grave earlier in the week.  It appears that Nancy Luce was the "Chicken Lady".  She was an artist who was a bit eccentric and raised chickens to help make ends meet.  She became somewhat of a "legend" on the island and after her death in 1890, people started leaving "chicken things" at her grave. 

Many of the older headstones had the skull and crossbones markings which we thought was a bit unusual.  After doing a little research (thank goodness for the internet) it seems that the skull and bones and the skull with wings were popular on headstones in America in the 17th and early 18th centuries; they symoblize death and mortality. Interesting.

Some also had skulls with wings, which apparently symbolize the flight of the soul from mortal man. 

                    Apparently in the 19th century, the skull and crossbones were replaced with cherubs!

As we were leaving, I noticed a grave with a bench instead of a headstone.  I had to take a closer look and I'm so glad I did.

Such a beautiful memorial for this husband and wife.  It reads:  "Come and sit by Katherine C. Long & Thomas P. Vogl.  They loved this isand, books, cooking, ideas, science, words, and above all else, each other".

Of course, I had to do a little research...Tom died in May of 2010 at the age of 80; he had an extremely rare form of cancer (mucous melanoma); he was diagnosed in 2006 and choronicled his journey through diagnosis and treatment (titled "Ruminations on Living with Cancer" and can be read at http://www.upislandeggs.com/); he was a biophysicist; Katherine was a librarian, and yes, there is a "chicken connection" - they raised chickens and sold the eggs!

I'm glad I learned a little about Katherine and Tom; I'm glad I left a smooth rock on his grave.