cemeteries, coon hunters & snake chaps

There's a little team of folks working on creating online Blackwater cemetery directory this month. I'm out taking photos in Blackwater. I call it "cemetery hopping." We're gathering GPS coordinates, and writing down directions. We are using all available information from the Lee County Historical Society Cemetery Directory series and the courthouse deeds records. There are atleast 63 cemeteries in Blackwater. We are learning that one cemetery can have more than one cemetery name. For example, the Sarepta Cemetery is also known as the Tomlinson Family Cemetery. The panoramic views from these scattered cemeteries are stunningly beautiful... I am enjoying the adventure across the valley. I've learned that local coon hunters know where old cemeteries are located up on the ridges. I've also learned that should I venture up the mountain with a coon hunter guide, that I might need to be wearing "snake chaps." I've never heard of "snake chaps." Apparently, as they were described to me, they are leather and you wear them over your jeans/boots, so that when a snake does bite you when your walking in the woods, it can't get through the outer leather layer. Well, I've never said that the cemetery directory could become a comprehensive list. I am not going to produce a photo of every tombstone in Blackwater. However, with some snake chaps and a coon hunter tour guide, I'd certainly enjoy the hiking and taking photos in some of Blackwater's forgotten cemeteries, high up on the ridges. Wonder if the farmers coop store, Southern States, in Jonesville sells "snake chaps." I do LOVE living in Lee County. :) www.blackwaterva.org