Funny thing about grave sites is that when I go to see a famous person’s grave, it rains!
OK, I don’t go rushing there often, in fact I’ve only done it twice, but both times the sky opened and it poured. These were not necessarily projected storms; just surprise ones that caught me a bit off guard.
The first one was at Graceland, the last place I’d expected to be. I was at a conference in Memphis and I asked the organizers if there was a planned bus tour to Graceland. They laughed at me and said a bunch of art educators would not be interested in stuff like that. They agreed to list it and if they could find another person or two they’d get us together to share a cab.
That lasted about ten minutes after posting and of course, they had to get a bus.
The tour was great, Graceland was smaller than expected but wonderful, and when we reached Elvis’s grave the skies opened. I was standing there with Don Irving, the then president of the School of Art Institute of Chicago, and we both started to laugh. I said how the last place I’d expected to be was standing in the rain at Elvis’s grave and he was the last person I’d expect to be there with. Oh well, we’ll always have Memphis!
The second one was Jim Morrison’s grave in Paris. The photo is mine (as opposed to the Elvis one I found on the net) and the rain is not evident. We were in a deluge, but by the time we worked our way through the cemetery, a huge village of graves and mausoleums, the rain had subsided. The place had been cleared of most of the Morrison related graffiti. It was a plain, somber, but wet experience.
I have no idea where I’ve been going with these adventures, but needless to say I have some concern over this. When I visit a celebrity grave next, I will pack an umbrella. I have no plans as yet, but I do have an interest in visiting the grave of Gregory Hines, the dancer and actor who I enjoyed very much in life. He is buried less than an hour from here but I’ll check the weather report before I venture forth.
OK, I don’t go rushing there often, in fact I’ve only done it twice, but both times the sky opened and it poured. These were not necessarily projected storms; just surprise ones that caught me a bit off guard.
The first one was at Graceland, the last place I’d expected to be. I was at a conference in Memphis and I asked the organizers if there was a planned bus tour to Graceland. They laughed at me and said a bunch of art educators would not be interested in stuff like that. They agreed to list it and if they could find another person or two they’d get us together to share a cab.
That lasted about ten minutes after posting and of course, they had to get a bus.
The tour was great, Graceland was smaller than expected but wonderful, and when we reached Elvis’s grave the skies opened. I was standing there with Don Irving, the then president of the School of Art Institute of Chicago, and we both started to laugh. I said how the last place I’d expected to be was standing in the rain at Elvis’s grave and he was the last person I’d expect to be there with. Oh well, we’ll always have Memphis!
The second one was Jim Morrison’s grave in Paris. The photo is mine (as opposed to the Elvis one I found on the net) and the rain is not evident. We were in a deluge, but by the time we worked our way through the cemetery, a huge village of graves and mausoleums, the rain had subsided. The place had been cleared of most of the Morrison related graffiti. It was a plain, somber, but wet experience.
I have no idea where I’ve been going with these adventures, but needless to say I have some concern over this. When I visit a celebrity grave next, I will pack an umbrella. I have no plans as yet, but I do have an interest in visiting the grave of Gregory Hines, the dancer and actor who I enjoyed very much in life. He is buried less than an hour from here but I’ll check the weather report before I venture forth.
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