Natchez Mississippi has a City Cemetery and National Cemetery in the most beautiful part of the city along a high bluff on the Mississippi River. There are many famous and interesting residents. The dramatic skies on this day in July of 2014 contributed to the feelings this place evokes.
The Turning Angel is the local name for this monument. It is the title of a great Greg Iles novel set in Natchez. The name comes from locals who sometimes when driving down cemetery road at night see the angel appear to turn her head as their headlights light up her face. The real history of the statue is very sad. In 1908 the Natchez Drug Company exploded and five young female employees died in the accident. The owner bought this plot and the angel for them.
I struggled with this photo. It is a section where mostly unknown Union soldiers were buried. It had a particularly eerie feel and I felt it should be included but I processed it many times never quite happy with the results. I settled on this version but the next version with all of it's flaws and halos best showed the way this place made me feel.
The view from the cemetery is the highest, best view of the Mississippi River on the southern part of he river.
This century plant in one end of the cemetery seemed the perfect flower for the eternally patient residents. They actually only live 10-30 years and have the one spectacular bloom at the end of their life.