Salem at this time of year has a record number of visitors. The cat is certainly out of the bag on that one, every year there seems to be more and more people. No matter what day of the week Halloween falls on, there are always large numbers of crowds leading up to the big day. This year the City has had racist and inappropriate graffiti spray painted on the sea wall. There is also this growing number of people who don't respect cemeteries. Seriously, don't sit on the tombs or tombstones. They are not your personal dining trays either. I can't even understand how there are people who wouldn't know to respect such places. Thankfully it isn't outright vandalism, more this loss of understanding of their fragility.
The Burying Point, where I photograph a lot, is one of the the oldest cemeteries in the country. Let's continue to protect it. “When marble disintegrates ... it does this thing called ‘sugaring,’” said Rachel Meyer, a stone conservator at City Hall and co-owner of Epoch Preservation. “Slate delaminates, and it will flake off the front of the stone — and unless you really know, then you could very much hurt a stone.” You speed up the natural weathering process of the stone when you do things like touch, lean, or sit on the tombs/gravestones. So if you decide to visit such places this year, please stay on the path and keep your feet on the ground (and read the attached article). Unless you are a ghost. Then you can lean or sit on whatever tombstone you floats..... your boat.
