tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post2824901127096067759..comments2023-05-24T23:33:57.516+10:00Comments on My Unwelcome Stranger: Show & Tell.1: blossoms, ashes, mistletoe and a guitarDenis Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786035137418348609noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-62145074699050369822012-07-27T11:32:28.001+10:002012-07-27T11:32:28.001+10:00Apparently you can arrange a "shallow burial&...Apparently you can arrange a "shallow burial" on your own property, and we've talked about "looking into it". I suspect the promised moment will arrive before we get around to doing anything about it and will have to settle for something "off the shelf", which is also fine with me. The less fuss made, the better.<br /><br />As for hanging up in a tree, well, the crows take too long to dispatch the road kill around here, so I don't think that would work fast enough for me. The Tibetans help the process along by butchering the body before throwing it to the vultures, and that's a bit too hands-on for me. So I suspect it's either our big kiln or the one at Piddington's.Joanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04715081266571704126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-49525508569632675712012-07-27T01:00:05.759+10:002012-07-27T01:00:05.759+10:00Sadly, I suspect some legal difficulties with your...Sadly, I suspect some legal difficulties with your worthy idea. [It's OK, I know you do to.] Maybe the Parsee method? I can't see exposure getting good press in Oz, but it would build up a good vulture population. All hail to Zoroaster!<br /><br />What's this "unexpected" bit? **joke**Denis Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786035137418348609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-12923130517680530602012-07-27T00:49:15.329+10:002012-07-27T00:49:15.329+10:00It's great to be able to intertwine the seriou...It's great to be able to intertwine the serious things with those we just have to be amused by. I loved this story. Obviously there's no way to switch the containers even if you had half a mind to.<br /><br />I have the feeling your wife would have also been amused by the way things panned out. I'm not so sure about Dudley, but then you'd know him better than I and he might have been quite content with the switch. But then, I'm sure each is at peace right where they are.Denis Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786035137418348609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-75065663038473441712012-07-27T00:40:44.514+10:002012-07-27T00:40:44.514+10:00I like the idea of being able to do that. Better t...I like the idea of being able to do that. Better than enraging people! :)Denis Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786035137418348609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-46144693210262220152012-07-27T00:39:12.173+10:002012-07-27T00:39:12.173+10:00Thanks for these words. I have never seen that adv...Thanks for these words. I have never seen that advice of Steele's before, but it makes sense. But then, any Eighteenth Century guy who was a member of the Whig Kit-Kat Club is someone I'd listen to. [Seriously!]<br /><br />I think the reverse is also true. If you're going to scorn or deride someone, you need to say why and let them defend themselves while exposing your reasons to public scrutiny as well.Denis Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786035137418348609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-20681664566994897372012-07-27T00:23:58.986+10:002012-07-27T00:23:58.986+10:00Thank you for the kind words. I still don't kn...Thank you for the kind words. I still don't know how being fully sentient and aware of final time close by really come together. Perhaps there's always some element of disbelief required. There's only one way we'll get the opportunity to find out, and if you're reading this, then it's not here for either of us yet.Denis Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786035137418348609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-18506646466575629782012-07-27T00:15:31.582+10:002012-07-27T00:15:31.582+10:00A perfect place, Julie. Everyone's idea has to...A perfect place, Julie. Everyone's idea has to suit them - that's if they regard it as their concern. Maybe once you're gone you should let whoever's left in charge of them decide. I'd be happy with that. The ashes are in the land of the living, after all. Of course, the strongly held wishes of the dead person should take priority, unless they're totally impractical.Denis Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786035137418348609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-43925648754296306312012-07-26T10:20:49.405+10:002012-07-26T10:20:49.405+10:00For the convenience of those left behind, crematio...For the convenience of those left behind, cremation is the easiest and probably cheapest method of disposal. But since the Goddess meant for decaying bodies to be food for other creatures, I would prefer to be shallow-buried and turn into a tree or some grass.<br /><br />The part of me that cares now about such things will be long past caring and onto whatever comes next.<br /><br />Thank you Denis for this wonderful piece of prose, which brought me to tears. You have an unexpected gift.Joanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04715081266571704126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-23435562345542954332012-07-26T08:25:50.674+10:002012-07-26T08:25:50.674+10:00I echo the comments above regarding the thought(fu...I echo the comments above regarding the thought(fulness) in your post Denis. Thank you. But before you sally forth into mistletoe and guitars, I thought I'd share with you a lighter side of what for some is a dark subject...<br /><br />It was my own wife's wish for cremation, but further that I retain her ashes to be scattered with my own. I of course will honour her request and remain the keeper of the ashes, as well as of the flame. Her ashes were returned to me in an anonymous cardboard box covering the sealed plastic receptacle, and are stored for safekeeping.<br /><br />A couple of years pass, and my son's old dog (why do parents always end up with their kid's pets?) passed away, and thinking he might wish some sort of 'ceremony' when he returned from overseas, I organised for Dudley to be cremated. The vet who arranged this asked me if I wanted 'a box or an urn' to which I thoughtlessly replied box.<br /><br />So now I am in charge of a (very beautiful, quite expensive, rosewood) box with a silver nameplate "Dudley", sitting next to my wife's plain old cardboard.<br /><br />But not on the mantelpiece.<br /><br />kvdAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-58828631112346774952012-07-26T00:06:08.055+10:002012-07-26T00:06:08.055+10:00I love this. It gives me peaceful thoughts to fini...I love this. It gives me peaceful thoughts to finish my day. Thanks for sharing. <br /><br />xSuz Shapoozienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-86018244964250130142012-07-25T21:55:23.049+10:002012-07-25T21:55:23.049+10:00Affirmation of life. Using the flower as a metapho...Affirmation of life. Using the flower as a metaphor - all efforts are directed - in their own time - becoming one. E pluribus unum.<br /><br />"Whenever you commend, add your reasons for doing so; it is this which distinguishes the approbation of a man of sense from the flattery of sycophants and admiration of fools."<br /> Sir Richard Steele<br /><br />Thank you, my friend.DRKWhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10974920542410321055noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-87628647469678345242012-07-25T20:16:58.576+10:002012-07-25T20:16:58.576+10:00Ah Denis...dear Denis. What a gift this is - your ...Ah Denis...dear Denis. What a gift this is - your honesty, your poetry and your determination to reach into the deep authenticity of your spirit and share it with us all without fear nor trembling. This matters.Roshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13339472107640597921noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-8338724050967846732012-07-25T19:11:36.460+10:002012-07-25T19:11:36.460+10:00My mum's ashes will go under the apple tree on...My mum's ashes will go under the apple tree on the 'wild' side of the garden, where the daffodils, jonquils, snowdrops and violets grow in winter (they're flowering now) and where I have a seat in the shade for summer. She knew that and was happy. Oh and dad is there too:) <br /><br />Piddington's is a good place, it feels right and good there. It's kindly.<br /><br />Julie xx<br /><br />Julie xxAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-32714169603937097642012-07-25T18:57:20.492+10:002012-07-25T18:57:20.492+10:00Thanks for both the comment and the question. In m...Thanks for both the comment and the question. In my original draft I used something much harsher than 'disposed of', which made 'scattered' look a bit airy-fairy, and made me think of terrible euphemisms in funeral-parlour parlance (eew!) I can't quite remember the exact wording now, but I expressed it in some maybe-too-colloquial way. <br /><br />So 'scattered' is a little hackneyed rather than a euphemism, though I'm sure we'd quickly run out of other terms for this activity if we dispensed with it. I rather like the idea of scattering rose petals, I must say. <br /><br />Don't you love 'resting vessel'? It gets almost into 'dead parrot' territory. "'E's restin'!"Denis Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786035137418348609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-11529611317895769002012-07-25T17:37:31.570+10:002012-07-25T17:37:31.570+10:00This is beautiful.
In what sense is the word '...This is beautiful. <br />In what sense is the word 'scattered' a euphemism, by the way?zmkchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08972549292961948240noreply@blogger.com