KELLY DRIVE IS A MONSTER

Kelly Drive this afternoon, February 23rd 2023

The most effective monsters disguise themselves so they can more easily attack and consume their prey. In the picture above, Kelly Drive is pretending to be a quaint country road with charming turns and the occasional tunnel, along a serene waterway. A Victorian Sunday outing, along with a romantic association with the natural world, guiding the public to such destinations as the country cemetery, Laurel Hill, where there would be delightful afternoon picnics. The drive was intended originally to bring Philadelphians closer to nature, adorned with sculptures and elegant bridges.

However if you closer at this scene, you will see that an actual monster has taken over Kelly Drive! It is sucking the souls out of the drivers of these automobiles, all of them racing as fast as possible to not be there, to be somewhere else. Speeding as much as 60 miles per hour, many of them disregard the 35 mph speed limit and run red lights continuously and regularly at one point seriously endangering the life of yours truly, trying to lawfully cross the monster’s domain.

The monster wants more suvs, faster driving cars, road rage and violence, race cars with extremely loud sound output, stressed out and unhappy motorists. It loves traffic accidents and deaths the most. Traffic jams are good but not enough. Pedestrians must suffer greatly to feed the insatiable appetite of the Kelly Drive monster. Bicyclists are especially loathsome and treated accordingly while public transportation is unspeakable and subsequently nonexistent.

Like all monsters, Kelly Drive has an insatiable appetite for suffering, misery and death, while in disguise as a convenience!

Of course there is much more to say and discuss but look at how the Kelly Drive monster is swallowing up those cars!

Mt Moriah Cemetery: the Gray plot

The Gray plot captured my attention and I am mesmerized. The contrast between the exquisite polished pink granite and the unkempt abandoned state had my imagination going. I love the entryway with the massive spheres on each side of the gate, gleaming in the afternoon sun. Like much of the cemetery, the overgrown, abandoned state has much to offer, aesthetically and spiritually, telling a compelling story about our world and our existential state as a species and society.

Many of our past posts have delved into the nuts and bolts of environmental restoration issues, dealing mainly with invasive plant removal and the stabilization of existing native plant populations and many ongoing conversations have focused on this.

Lately, in our renewed and invigorated state as a blog, there is an interest in urban planning, land use and just the current state of the modern landscape. All of these things are interconnected, and please stay with us as we navigate through this complex ecosystem!

Enjoy the next seven photos of this intriguing cemetery plot, here in West Philadelphia!

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The Gray plot, Mt Moriah Cemetery
The Gray Plot

Mt Moriah Cemetery’s surprise visitor

One of many overgrown parts of Mt Moriah Cemetery, which is getting much needed attention from volunteers who are working hard to bring it back.

Today I had an early afternoon appointment with Pacifico Ford to get our cargo van serviced. New tires (82,000 miles on two of them which is great) inspection and all that. It was going to take the bulk of the afternoon so I brought my bike. At the last minute it dawned on me that Mt Moriah Cemetery was only about one mile away. This is a place that I have been visiting, photographing and volunteering at for the past 32 years. My customer service agent told me they were understaffed, so could I please be patient today. That was my cue to go. I hadn’t been in some years and I’m on the Facebook group and try to keep up and stuff so I was excited to see it. I visited the grave of my old friend and neighbor Tony next to the gatehouse. I also revisited a plot that I worked on restoring 9 years ago. I set out to find the grave of the Philadelphia architect Samuel Sloan. I found his plot, and I hope to discuss this adventure in the next post or two. After spending an hour taking photographs and exploring, I found a lost garden clippers on the ground, rusty and forgotten, in an area that volunteers had worked on previously.
A serendipitous moment!

I decided to do some work with the clippers and clear out a gravesite from invasive vegetation. I found the perfect plot and set to work removing the invasive Japanese Honeysuckle, *Lonicera Japonica* and the bittersweet vine. Also some problematic grape vines, all of which I methodically pulled out by the roots. The rusty clippers got more agile with use and I was able to work with them effectively. It was fun, and hopefully my efforts will help the more regular volunteers who will now not have to worry about this one and get other stuff done.

This Cemetery is still in a state of ruin and may be for a long time yet!

After pulling the vines away from the tombstones I could read the inscriptions and it tells a very sad story. This family definitely needs to have someone do a little bit of care on their gravesite plot after so many years of neglect!

After an hour and a half I was done and ready to go back to the Ford dealership. I had no idea any of this would happen this morning when I set out to bring the van in. This is serendipity at its best, how I want to roll!

A great day.



The before picture
About an hour and fifteen minutes after I started.
A close up before picture. Be sure to try to read the inscriptions
The after picture. I worked hard to pull out the roots of the invasive vegetation and smooth out the soil around the monument.