“La membuat segala sessuata indah pada waktunya.” – Pengkhotbah 3:11
I see dead people. Back from 12 days on Tambora, the live-a-board dive boat, we headed up to the hill country above Manado, North Sulawesi to see what we could find in Tomohon. I woke at the crack of dawn, allowing Diana, my partner in crime to catch up on some sleep, I made for the cemetery next to our hotel. OK, maybe it’s a little weird but in college I had an instructor who took us to cemeteries in the Salinas Valley, California. He said you could learn a lot from dead people and I believed him. I often make an effort to visit the dead whenever I can and feel like I’m not offending anyone, unlike when I visit the living. In Redondo Beach, I’d often go for runs in the cemetery that was up the street. It was very peaceful, had a nice road with hardly any cars so I felt less likely to get run over there. And if I did, well, it would be handy.
It’s mostly a Christian enclave in Tomohon, so I didn’t feel like I was breaking any taboo I didn’t know about, like some Indian burial ground the settlers unwittingly cross with their wagons and then get all shot to hell with arrows and beaten with tomahawks. In Ternate, I was wanted to shoot the Muslim graves but Diana was worried that it was Ramadan plus we’re unfamiliar with Islam customs and might offend someone. So I had to sit that one out. I photographed a boneyard in Georgia across the street from the Friendship Baptist Church, and I was a little worried there. Southerners, you know? I’m there to pay my respects and often sit, pray and meditate. I know I’ll be joining them soon enough. The verse above is in Indonesian but it’s from the Bible:
“He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” – Ecclesiastes 3:11
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This woman is still alive. She lived across from the cemetery and allowed me to take her photo 
