First experiences are really close to first impressions. Both play a big role in perspective and greatly affect how you think about an idea. My first experience with the Cemetery Website Project really shaped how I think of the project now. When I first started, I thought this would be something that wasn’t going to be extremely interesting. However, I was proved wrong. My first objective was to name 1,200 pictures so that they could be identified and placed on the new website. Naming the pictures in itself was a big project. Many of the grave markers in the Arnold Cemetery were old and worn so that words could not be read. Other markers did not include last names. Grave markers like those required a visit to the Cemetery. Most times after scouring a certain area in the cemetery I was able to find out which family the person belonged to. Other stones simply had initials engraved on them.
Even after visiting the Arnold Cemetery for these I was forced to place these photos in a folder that was labeled “Unknown”. That may not seem very significant when reading this, but that was really hard to give up and not be able to find out who those people were.
On my frequent ventures to the Arnold Cemetery I came to appreciate the condition that it was in. The cemetery is neatly mowed with all of the headstones neatly trimmed. There are no weeds or tall grasses that obscure the grave markers. There are also many trees. However, there are some disadvantages to having these trees. Some of the roots are beginning to tip over headstones and in a recent storm one of the trees fell down.
