NIGHT IN THE GRAVEYARD

I mean, it wasn't late at night, it could have been 8 or 9 PM. The days in November aren't very long. The photographs in this post were taken on the 1st of November 2016.

This is an autoportrait lit by the light of the grave lantern.

I drove about 20 kilometers north of my hometown, to the village of Marchana, to light that red lantern on the tombstone of my grandparents on my father's side of the family. I don't remember grandma. She died when I was only three years old. Grandfather lived in an isolated property five or six kilometers from the village. The place was surrounded by woods, fields, and meadows. I spent a week or two there every summer as a kid, and I had a great time searching for insects, spiders, birds, and all that the lush nature around Marchana can offer. Later, I often visited my grandpa's place, usually without any announcement and quite unpredictably. Near the end of his days on earth, he lived with us in Medulin and for the very last month in the nursing home in the city. I visited him on the day he died. And it happened accidentally. I was at a party in Pula, the city I mentioned before, and since it was a pretty boring event with some kind of "wannabe artists intellectuals", I decided to go to the nursing home. It was pretty late and I was quite surprised that the staff has let me in.
We talked for an hour or two. In between the words he was coughing and smoking cigarette after cigarette. A couple of hours later, after midnight, I was at my parent's home, and they got a call from the nursing home. Grandpa has passed away. At the age of 87. Someone may say that the tobacco cut him finally down. But since he was smoking like a chimney since his teenage days, you may also say that the same tobacco kept him going. In the end, he had a pretty long life.

The interior of the nearby church was well-lit. The place looked ready for the mass. It was strange for that late hour, but not creepy, more like strange in a good, spiritual way.

The lantern on my grandfather's grave was only one of the many lights in the cemetery that night.

And that's it. I have only one more autoportrait to show you before the end.

AND THAT'S IT. AS ALWAYS IN THESE POSTS ON HIVE, THE PHOTOGRAPHS ARE MY WORK. THEY WERE ALL TAKEN WITH A SMALL, HALF-BROKEN CAMERA SO THE QUALITY ISN'T GREAT THIS TIME.