For some people (me), the concept of not traveling far is a familiar one. I like to travel, to 
see the world (Alaska); I also like to have a roof over my head, especially when the weather gets colder. Rather than switch into a soul-sucking career that I’d hate (think anything finance or insurance related, or anything involving a dress code), I do fulfilling and intellectually challenging work which, incidentally, doesn’t pay enough for a single person to be jetting off to Borneo every six months. Fortunately, I can be amused, entertained, and awed just about anywhere.
On Friday, I traipsed through Cedar Hill Cemetery in the South End of Hartford. The cemetery actually encourages photography, painting, and other “quiet activities.” I generally kept to the historical section, where the grave markers tend to be fancier, and there’s less of a chance of disturbing anyone actually mourning relatives and friends. There are a few monstrosities of stones, mostly on top of the hill, which belong to names recognizable throughout Hartford. 
As I think about how showy some of these are, I can’t help but realize that I have basically turned into my mother in the past few years. Still, I think that there is a difference between a classy grave marker, and one that screams money.
If self-directed activity is not for you, then Cedar Hill has organized events. Coming in August, there will be a sunset tour and a jazz concert. There will also be a scavenger hunt. Think on that for a minute. In college, the scavenger hunts that I participated in had involved packing a bag with duct tape, a crow bar, pliers, wirecutters, and a hammer, and returning with otherly found items. My assumption is that it won’t be that kind of a scavenger hunt.
It’s a good place to go for quiet. The cemetery is set back enough from the road to where vehicle noise is minimal. I saw (and heard) a hawk, ducks, dragonflies, butterflies, frogs, and squirrels. They claim to get deer there too.
But be warned– there is no sunbathing allowed!
