Refracted Neurons

I knew about Comet Lodge, but I don't know if I ever would have visited if it didn't come visit me first.  If you're not a regular reader, to recap: I found a tombstone from Comet Lodge when I was taking a walk one day.  Nonsense ensued and I accomplished nothing.  You can read more about that  here ,  here ,  here ,  here , and  here. So enjoy the pictures, take a trip down the rabbit hole with the links, and don't worry; I'll soon find another strange quest to embark on. Location : 2100 S Graham St, Seattle, WA 98108 Tips:  Wear waterproof boots unless you want wet feet. History:  Comet Lodge Cemetery was founded in 1895, but it has been used as a cemetery prior to that date by the Duwamish.  Over the years its been forgotten about, eaten by blackberries, bulldozed, desecrated, and rehabilitated.  It is not currently an active cemetery and functions more as a very strange park. Links: Comet Lodge Cemetery...

I haven't mentioned the tombstone in a while, mainly because I'm really disappointed in myself.  I failed, epically.  Last time I went by the construction site, the stone was gone.  Yes, gone.  I'm about 95% certain that the property owner got sick of waiting for me to do something with it and threw it away.  5% of me thinks that the cemetery went and got it and that's why they never contacted me again.  Either way, my quest was a complete failure. And I thought I was good at things like this.  I mean, if video games had any application to real life, this was my kind of thing. One of my favorite video games is Legend of the Dragoon.   I only ever played this game through once, because it wasn't mine.  Heck, I've never even owned a Playstation.  Anyway, every time I mention this game to someone, I either get a glazed look or, "Are you sure it isn't 'Dragon'?" as a response. I am positive it's not "Dragon." It may have...

I have been continuously checking to see if the tombstone is still there and if my note (in a shiny silver envelope) is still there.  Every time I go by, the construction site is deserted, with no signs of new work being done.  So you can imagine my surprise when I received a phone call out of the blue from SPD, of all people. Come to find out, the stone is not on private property, like we originally thought.  The developer had moved it just enough so that it was on county property.  Much as I suspected, no one wants this thing.  It's heavy and well, it's a tombstone. So they said I can take it to the cemetery. While I'm waiting for the cemetery to figure out their next steps, let's talk about other things. Water enchantment? I've been thinking a lot about the government in The Culling series lately, so I was trying to scratch down the basic beliefs of the three parties.  This is what I've come up with: Traditionalist party-hierarchical, be...

I know what you're thinking: Really?  Another blog post about the tombstone you found laying on the side of the road? Well, yes.  And it just keeps getting weirder. As you may remember, last week I said I needed to get permission from the landowners to remove the stone from their property; assuming they didn't want to keep the tombstone.  I talked to my mom about this and she suggested that I check out the County Assessor's website, since they list who owns what property.  All of it is listed by address, and I didn't know the address.  To get a better idea of which plot of land it was, I opened up Google Maps and virtually strolled down the street.  The images were from a few years ago, so the lot I was looking for would look nothing like it does today.  I was trying to decide if this house was the right one or not, when suddenly I saw it. Do you see it? Let's take a closer look at the picture: It's the tombstone! As ridiculous as t...

Little did I know, finding a tombstone would teach me some very strange things about the city that I live in and death in general.  To recap, last week I found a tombstone laying on the side of the road in front of a construction site. Like I mentioned in my last post, my mom is really into genealogy.  She looked up the names on the stone and found that the people listed were buried at Comet Lodge Cemetery. Wait!  What?  Really?  This Comet Lodge? After finding this out, I had a bit of a fire lit under my behind.  I was sure someone would want to put this stone back where it belonged.  I emailed the organization who was responsible for reconstructing Comet Lodge and got no response.  Then I messaged a similar group on Facebook.  They suggested contacting a local cemetery.  So I finally got some answers, but they were not really what I expected. First of all, don't be surprised if you find a tombstone in a weird place in Seatt...

I was walking down the street this morning, when I spotted something strange on the ground in front of a construction site.  Now when I was a kid, I spent a lot of time in graveyards, so I was pretty sure that I was looking at a tombstone.  And I'm not referring to growing up Gothic, I'm referring to growing up, er, genealogical .  My mom has always been into tracing the history of our family, so we frequented dusty old libraries and cemeteries.  At the time it was boring, but I've developed a nostalgia for tombstones and microfiche that I entirely failed to develop for computer parts and easy listening music.  But that's another story. When you see it . . .  I pulled the stroller over to the side of the road to get a closer look.  Sure enough, this was a bona fide early 20th century tombstone.  Which brings up some questions: Was someone buried in this plot of land?  Where is the body?  Is this legal?  Do I have a corpse in...