I used to plant a flower on my mom and dad’s grave when I went home but haven’t been there for a couple of years. The cemetery is on a really really dry hill and you usually have to watch out for rattlesnakes when you go up there so I always had to find a drought resistant plant. It’s almost like one of those dry old western cemeteries from a movie. No kidding. When I do go up I always go alone because I wander through and “see” all the new people there. Such a small town I usually find one or two old friends or parents of friends. I also pick up and right any old stones that have fallen, some are from the 1840s and 1850s. There’s one Japanese marker (he was a worker on the vegetable farm that became my family’s ranch), and one Jewish grave. The rest are just “plain ol’ people”. You can tell the hispanic graves as they all are quite adorned with statues, flowers, fences, pictures, you name it, it’s there. So my token plants are nothing in comparison. But I have had a little success with a few things I’ve planted. I think there’s some cactus that has survived over the years.

The main thing is it’s really quiet, really calm, very peaceful. And I get to have a nice talk out loud with my mom and nobody thinks I’m crazy because I’m the only one there.