Mom Likes Cemeteries

Just got off the phone with Mom. She went to Shubuta, Mississippi, the other day, she said. ("Shubuta" is also the title of a short story by Tom Franklin.) Mom said the highway passed Shubuta by, that they used to have a traffic light but now they don't even have a traffic light. "Yes, sounds exciting," I said. Mom liked the cemetery in Shubuta. Mom has always liked cemeteries. When we were on road trips when I was a kid, you could count on a lengthy stop at any interesting-looking cemetery, and all of them looked interesting to Mom. Mom said the cemetery in Shubuta is on a bluff overlooking a river, and though she was afraid there could be water moccasins (a deadly breed of snake) hiding between the gravestones, she could easily picture a horse-cart carrying a coffin onto the grounds, and the stately procession following it. I told Mom she should get a column somewhere reviewing cemeteries the way other people review restaurants or movies. I really mean it! Somebody pay my mom to go around the country reviewing cemeteries. But Mom objected. "Well, I don't ever stay long enough to get to know anybody," she said, which I thought was a funny thing to say about cemeteries.