I took my camera for a drive in the country last Sunday and came across the Eigengrund Cemetery sign east of Altona, Manitoba. The actual cemetery is across the field and is accessible in summer by a grass path. In winter, however, the sign seem to be marking something that used to be present on the now cold and barren prairie.

The Southern Manitoba world used to be a lot smaller and families used to be a lot bigger. There were more country churches, schools, and cemeteries serving the farm families who lived around them. Today everything has been centralized to larger centres, even cemeteries.

I’m a strong believer that we need to remember the past. Remembering doesn’t mean that we have to preserve things or keep old traditions alive. It means that we have to know enough the past to think about it as we live today. I’m grateful to people in the community who have worked to preserve monuments like the Eigengrund Cemetery sign to help us remember the communities that came before us.

Nikon D750 w. Nikon 14-24 f/2.8 @ 14mm