mission san fernando


... the frightening death mask of Bob Hope. 

That's right:  smack-dab in the middle of a cemetery replete with the graves of 19th-century Indians,
explorers, adventurers, and Franciscan padres lie the decomposing remains of Ol' Ski-Slope Nose,
who's taking Eternity off from entertaining the troops at USO shows in order to molder a bit underground.
His wife is here too, probably against her will. 

It's quite a shock to the system to round a corner in a 200+-year-old Spanish mission and find oneself
face-to-face with a memorial to Bing Crosby's old movie partner.  And this portrait, while accurate enough,
doesn't help.  First, Hope has the look on his face of an uncle who's just taken his teenage niece upstairs to
ask for a back rub.  Second, he appears to have taken a hatchet across the top of the head, probably
by some Indians who're sore about sharing their dirt with him. 

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