After finishing with the library my plan originally was to go to Lucy Park to hike to Wichita Falls.
A month or so ago I read that Wichita Falls was going to be turned off for awhile whilst some remodeling was done.
Yesterday I read on Wichita Falls Rants & Raves on Facebook where someone was asking if there was a way to get to Wichita Falls without what the inquirer felt was the long arduous trail walk from Lucy Park.
Someone then advised the inquirer to drive to the north end of Riverside Cemetery from whence access to the top of the falls is available, without that vexing long hike. Previously I'd been to the top of the falls and had not noticed any type of access to the cemetery allowing someone to get past the cyclone fence adorned at the top with barbed wire.
So, as I saw Riverside Cemetery come into view, prior to the Lucy Park entry, I opted to drive into the cemetery to see if there is access from there to Wichita Falls.
Ever since I first saw this cemetery I have said I wanted to return during cool weather to check it out, due to it being an old cemetery, where even from the road you can see it is huge with a lot of equally huge headstones and crypts.
Well, I was a bit rushed for time and so did not do much exploring, but I soon saw that this cemetery has a lot of Texas State Historical Markers. I only read a couple of them before continuing my search for the top of Wichita Falls.
The search was soon ended with it being obvious there is no access point through the fence, hence the photo you see above, looking through the chain links at the trail to the top of the falls and the Wichita River below. I could not see the falls, but I could hear it, and I could see the original bridge is still in place. I don't know what happened to the remodeling project.
I was not long in Riverside Cemetery before I noticed that many of the graves had the iconic Confederate Stars & Bars flags stuck in the ground near the headstone.
Here we see an example of this flag phenomenon. Adorning the grave of Judge Edgar Schutte, who apparently was a LOYAL SON OF THE SOUTH.
In our current era this flag has received a lot of scorn. Sometimes that scorn seems to me to be totally appropriate. But, in instances such as the Confederate flags I saw today, well, that just sort of part of the colorful history.
I also don't object to Confederate memorial statues. Again because they are a piece of history.
I remember way back in 1998, May of, spending a week in the Dallas/Fort Worth zone to see if it was doable to move there. During the exploring the area phase I found myself in Weatherford, walking around the square which surrounds the Parker County Courthouse.
On the grounds surrounding the Parker County Courthouse there is a Confederate memorial statue. I do not remember who are what is on the statue, Jefferson Davis? Robert E. Lee? Stonewall Jackson? A rebel soldier? I don't remember.
What I do remember is, during the course of reading the inscription on the memorial, suddenly realizing I was in the South.
In one of the states which made up the Confederacy.
It was not that I was not aware, prior, to the fact that Texas was a Confederate state, it was just that til reading that memorial that reality had not registered with my present moment.
Anyway, I think it is wrong for people to make a fuss over those type Confederate memorials. It's part of our history.
Now if you want to use those type memorials, or flags to celebrate being a racist moron, well, that I do object to.
I must return soon, before the outer world returns to being HOT, with my camera, to do some photo documenting of Riverside Cemetery. Today I only had my phone with me...
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