Yesterday seemed like a fine day to head for Decatur County - although it was still "hotter than a pistol".. I wanted to go to New Salem Cemetery in Hamilton Twp. Had been by it several times when I was looking for the Dale, Gammill & Cowles Cemeteries earlier this spring.. It was nice not having to wonder where it was. So, I took pictures (and, yes, chalked some) of all the stones; this is a very nice cemetery which sits behind the New Salem Baptist Church. By then I was getting hungry, so decided to go to Pillars in Leon for a Reuben with beer-batter fries.......yum.. While eating, I was looking at my homemade Decatur Co. map with cemeteries and (epiphany...) I decided to head to Eden Twp. to look for the Mt. Tabor Cemetery. I'd driven Co. Rd. R52 (also known as Lineville Rd.) several times and according to my map it was at the end of the first 'dirt road' to the East. It was fairly dry, so I thought "why not?" Well, I drove over the hills and through the dirt/almost mud to the end of the road, which became a farmer's equipment building.. No sign of Mt. Tabor Cemetery. So, I headed back the way I came -- not being a 'quitter' and on a mission!! I flagged down a farmer on his tractor and asked if he knew where the cemetery might be and he said there was an old cemetery back behind his dad's property; to go back to R52 and take the NEXT gravel road to the Left and follow it to the end. It is now maintained by the county.. For anybody desiring to see this forgotten cemetery, the road to the left off R52 is Quinn Road and it is about 1 1/2 miles to where it dead ends and the cemetery sits. This little old cemetery has about 12 headstones, which I chalked. I used my tire iron, aka 'burglar beater' to dig around a couple of them so I could read them, as they'd sank into the ground -- one was a Folgers coffee can filled with concrete and the temporary metal marker pushed down through the center into the ground.. Unfortunately the top of the marker was long gone, so don't know who it was for. I got my witching wires out and proceeded to walk the cemetery, finding numerous burials with no markers -- several rocks that, indeed, were burial markers.. My wires were going every which way, which is a strange feeling, as though those buried there were calling out find me, find me".... (yes, I'm sane...) After talking with Darlene Arnold in Chariton the other day, I tried to use one wire, as she'd told me, and outline the size of the burials -- to see if it was an adult or child, or both.. Didn't work for me.. I headed back home on Hwy 69, noticing all the wild flowers growing in the ditches; blue flax, brown eyed susans, lavender bee balm, orange lilies, and queen Ann's lace.. How they tolerate the Iowa heat and humidity is beyond me -- but I'm glad they do.. The ticks were also out and happy to see me coming -- the little creeps!! So, until my next 'marble orchard' adventure -- My Best Always, Nancee