This is a test drive in a few different ways: first time using the field recorder and the clip-on microphone, as well as the first walk-and-talk mobile recording.
I was a little preoccupied, worrying about sound quality as I was rolling, so the narrative doesn’t go into much detail. Learning on the job, as always.
A few of my favorite things about Ithaca City Cemetery that I neglected to mention:
I found a collection of hex jars (mason jars filled with ripped-up, handwritten paper and dirt) half-buried in one of the family plots at the top of the hill. Somebody’s been doing witchcraft up there within the past few years. (That same plot is also shot through with fox burrows, which is a nice pagan touch.)
Further up the hill is a Potters’ Field: unmarked graves for the poor and itinerant back in the frontier days. The old records identify the plot as “overburied”—which means filled with bodies. Although most of the graves don’t have markers, there are certain times of year when the right combination of factors makes the outline of the graves visible on the surface:
Ghost graves in the Potters’ Field at Ithaca City Cemetery. More to come, stay tuned.
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