sweet auburn | 2022 volume ii
I have led my own walks at the Cemetery , for the Appalachian Mountain Club and for people at my church . Although the Cemetery is not a wild place , but carefully , lovingly managed and gently led into particular conformations of plants and landscape , still it is a dirt factory and a manufacturer of oxygen and a recycler of water and home to countless billions of organisms most of which we cannot see , and thousands which we can see , if we are lucky . So I try to point those things out to walkers . My hope is that then they will be alert to these wonders in their own home landscapes .
I found a surprising and fruitful outreach about a year ago , too , in the depths of Covid . It seems that a person named Rich Snow used to work at the Cemetery , and he is a meditation instructor , and he made a video for Mount Auburn which is on YouTube , in which he leads viewers in a 25-minute guided meditation . I began to watch it , and eventually used this meditation nearly every day , until I had just about memorized Rich ’ s kindly voiced instructions . Then I thought to look him up . Long story short — I now participate in a weekly online meditation group which he leads . So you never know . Again .
No , you never know . Every Christmastide my Alyson and I attended the wreath-making event at the Cemetery greenhouse . Hers was always the most imaginative ; she was an artist . The Christmas after she died , I went as usual to the greenhouse . I made an all-white wreath , and I wept .
Now that I am 84 years old , I can turn to look back , and see what has been most important . Yup , Mount Auburn Cemetery , in all of its facets , is a landmark in my inner landscape . For it , I am grateful .
Hilary Hopkins has been a Cambridge resident since 1961 , but she never really felt at home until she began volunteering at Mount Auburn 26 years ago . She had serial serious careers : as a teacher , ending with 10 years as teacher / naturalist at Habitat Mass Audubon . An insatiable traveler , she has visited 111 countries on 7 continents , chasing 11 solar eclipses with her husband from Mongolia and Zimbabwe to Cabo Verde and Turkey . Together they have summited all 65 of New England ’ s 4000-foot mountains . Her interests in science and history resulted in 2 books : Never Say It ’ s Just A Dandelion : 125 Wonderful Common Plants for Walkers and Walk Leaders and Boston ’ s Historic Places : So What ? An Interactive Guide for the Thoughtful Walker . She pledges to keep trying to decipher monument inscriptions ( a sacred obligation to those who composed them ) until she can ’ t get around any longer .
* Highly recommended for those in grief : Healing After Loss : Daily Meditations for Working Through Grief by Martha Whitmore Hickman
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