Roadside Memorials, the Mothership

It has been a while since I've made any comments on Roadside Memorials, but my dislike for them has not diminished in at all.

My folks were traveling these past few weeks throughout the Southwest US. Instead of returning home with normal treasures, my parents brought me a photograph of this beauty somewhere along the highway in Arizona. They knew they would get a reaction out of me and they were pretty darn sure it would be reported immediately on theMangoTimes.



This is the grand-daddy of all memorials. A building? A cast iron gate and matching cast iron cross? They put some serious dough into this one. The concrete/wooden cross that I drive by every morning is nothing compared to this shrine. Notice a few things: first, the red warning signs are hard to read in this scan, but it says: Fire Danger - Do Not Put Flowers (in two languages). And, yes...those are flowers hanging on the gate.
Second, notice the sign to the right, it says "No Dumping"...unless of course you are dumping concrete and building materials to make a memorial.
Third, notice how the property owner or county has fenced around this memorial, so as not to fence right through it. I'm surprised they didn't petition the landowner for electric and water, so they could keep this thing lit up at night.

Note to my friends...when I die...no shrines, no memorials, no teddy bears, no Jesus candles...

Quietly making noise,
Fletch