The Shoe Tree

    This weekend my friend Angela M. took gave me a tour of two cemeteries in the area.  The smaller of the two was the East Cleveland Cemetery.  The place is in ruins; mausoleums broken into, tombstones falling over, pieces of statue broken off (and presumably stolen).  Even though the place is a complete mess, I think that's what makes it so cool.  While there, I was definitely reminded of a scene from one of the Batman films when Bruce is visiting his parents' graves.  The image that I have of that scene in my mind is identical to how this place looked.  I'll have to go back one day and take some photos.
    The other cemetery we visited was Lakeview Cemetery.  I'd be more likely to call this gorgeous place a park if it weren't for the 100,000+ dead people buried there, including President Garfield and John D. Rockefeller among others.  I was amazed at how large and well kept this cemetery is and could imagine myself walking around it all day and still not be able to see half of it.  There is a massive concrete dam in the middle of the whole place, adding to the uniqueness of this place.  Besides the thousands of grave stones, there are many distinct statues, monuments, and mausoleums for the wealthy that were buried there. President Garfield has a whole tower/castle for himself, and when it opens up in the spring I plan to visit again just to be able to climb to the top and get a (supposedly) magnificent view of Cleveland.
    So why is this post titled, "The Shoe Tree"?  One of the additional features of Lakeview is a tree with around fifty pairs of tied together shoes hanging from its branches.  It honestly looks absurd - I love it.  I read online that you are supposed to toss your old pairs of shoes into these "shoe trees" to bring good luck.  I've never heard of this being done before but after seeing this kind of tree, it makes me want to start one back in Milford.