Winged Hourglasses

I knew exactly what I wanted to photograph for this very last day of 2011. Few things can be as suitable for showing the passage of time as winged hourglasses and I knew I would find many in Penicuik graveyard. The hourglass is a sign of fleeting time and a symbol of (wo)man's mortality.So Penicuik Graveyard is where I spend my Artist's Date today, hunting them out. The above one was a beautifully synchronistic find for the day. What could be a better wish for the year to come than to Carpe Diem (or pluck the day). I sometimes have real difficulty dealing with the sheer spookiness of these coincidences. I had seen the hourglass before on previous visits but had never realized that there was text underneath.

This is the back of the gravestone with the skeleton that I showed you in an earlier post (it also was my 365th blip). This hourglass has lavish wings, clearly the mason was a very talented individual. It dates back to 1709.

A beautiful winged hourglass that fills the top of the gravestone completely. There is text above which says: Fugit Hora (or very loosely translated: the hours are flying past). In other words, beware of the fact that your time is running out fast.

Quite a dainty hourglass with the usual Memento Mori underneath. It's hard to read the text above but I think it again says: Fugit Hora

And lastly a very simply hourglass with quite modest wings. But how it looks does not really matter as far as the symbolism is concerned. All of them remind us that our time on this earth is limited and the end might come at any time. The sand is slowly falling down till it will all gone.

A whole year has passed once again and who knows what 2012 will bring. I wish all the readers of this blog all the best for next year and make the most of it, every single day. Just in case!