Crematorium wants to freeze dry bodies and use the dust as compost
...SNIP...Six states in the US have passed laws to allow resomation and talks are ongoing to make it legal in Britain.

I told my wife to cremate me and then spread me around the yard. She does not like the idea. But I'll probably outlive her so.....

(A close second was being filled with quick dry cement and dropped on people I didn't like when I was alive.)

Last funeral I went to had a wicker coffin and cremation. Simple and effective.

Last funeral I went to had a wicker coffin and cremation. Simple and effective.

I am appalled at our way of burying the dead. They just take up space in the land when they are so valuable to the natural scheme of things.

I feel really blessed on the last few years knowledge from here.. but somewhere I have migrated away from the urge to see who said what from recent topics.......just me I guess..

I've composted many small creatures in hot piles and noticed bones being persistent.
An amateur osteologist noted that animals dying in nature usually have their bones consumed by rodents who need the calcium... deer skulls being difficult to find for that reason.

His shocked heirs then met with the lawyer,
convinced one of them was the spoiler.
They id'd the cheat
by the dirt on her feet,
and, incensed, hatched a vile plan to foil her.

The group set a trap for their sister
with something she couldn't resist--her
weakness they knew
was straw mixed with poo.
As a lure it would no doubt enlist her.

On the day that dad's ashes were dumped
the mean group's emotions were pumped.
They each took their turn
scooping out from the urn,
aimed their shovels at sister and thumped.

She survived, though, to their great dismay,
revived herself and ran away.
She snuck back in a while
to retrieve the pile,
and used it in a very big way.

Her pumpkin now grew with dad's care.
She entered it in the state fair.
The judges adored
the thousand-pound gourd.
With the winnings she's now a rich heir.

(Sorry, couldn't resist re-posting this when I saw the subject of the thread)

Some plans I've heard:

My friend Paula, a horse lover, wants to be cremated & flung out in, seems like, North Dakota, where there are still herds of wild horses.
She says, "The horses need grass, & grass appreciates enrichment, & I'm willing to contribute my carbon to the cause."

My brother's wife says she's gonna have him stuffed & posed in his recliner, cigarette in one hand, beer can in the other.

Another friend is to be buried in a plain pine box (she can't quite handle the thought of a cardboard coffin) on the farm that has been in her family for generations.

I my own self always planned to have all the useable parts extracted (if someone's willing to donate his/her entire body to keep a part of me alive, I'm all for it!) & the remainder to be wrapped in an old quilt (cotton stuffing rots, polyester does not) & buried at my brother's place in the country, down by the creek, *but*...
then I read this:

"being hollowed out, stitched closed, and having a valve installed so that I can be inflated and used as a pool toy.
(A close second was being filled with quick dry cement and dropped on people I didn't like when I was alive.)"

The idea has its charm.

I do like the idea of freeze-drying rather than cremating bodies, but I don't think any crematory is going to be able to sell people on the idea of soaking their loved one in alkaline solution & flushing the resulting goo down the commode.

...for those who don't know me, I am joking.

I believe that when the spirit leaves the body [for good] that it is minerals and such primarily, but I respect the spot. If I 'die' before the Lord returns, I prefer [not necessary though] a reference location for my resurrection.

Guys at work said that would be great as the cemetary needed a good bike stand! Ouch.

:-)

Lloyd

Is it " someone awesome that shouldn't be messed with?"

There was no "meaning", it's humour.

Obviously my humour needs some tweaking. This kinda reminds me of the time I said I had no more friends left since I took up composting and then mentioned that it took about six months in a hot pile. Only a few got that one.

Lloyd

If I should die before I wake,
All my bone and sinew take:
Put them in the compost pile
To decompose a little while.
Sun, rain, and worms will have their way,
Reducing me to common clay.
All that I am will feed the trees
And little fishes in the seas.
When corn and radishes you munch,
You may be having me for lunch.
Then excrete me with a grin,
Chortling, "There goes Lee again!"
Twill be my happiest destiny
To die and live eternally.

Thought it might have been a portmanteau but given the location of coining, maybe closer to "refudiate".

Your humour is fine.

Sincerely,

Tweaked

I just read about a medical school calling someone & saying something like "We're through with your grandma, come get what's left".

You want to be sure your relatives won't get a shocking call long after they think they've seen the last of you!

A bit of a segue ... Our very much loved dog died last August, and we had him cremated. His favorite place to be was Ocean Grove, NJ, and, come spring, I will put his remains into my garden. I know it isn't "him," but I think of how many hours he spent on the porch or in the yard watching me garden and it just seems right.

That's an interesting proposition. Truly, that's what is supposed to happen to bodies; decompose and be re-used. But I probably would not go that way myself. There is something to be said for traditional dignity and teaching the young that life is more than just recycled chemicals.

However, I can easily see that if someone believes that's all human life is, it would be a logical next step.

There are a couple of great books I have, "Caring for Your Own Dead" and "The American Way of Life and Death". Both of these are eye openers on the funeral industry and how to not only save money, but dignity.

Thinking of donating your body to science? "Stiff; the Curious Lives of Human Cadavers" might change your mind, if you have the idea that your body will lay on the table to be examined in med school. Most cadavers are used in very... unexpected ways.

As for me, I want a simple hole dug on my land, wrap my night gowned body in a simple sheet the same day I die. Cover me with a mound of dirt and walk away. I'm not there. Don't come and visit my grave. I'm not there and I'll be really mad at the time and tears anyone wasted visiting a storage pit.

If the curious eyes of people make them feel the need to do SOMETHING, they can plant a Rose of Sharon bush on top. That's a nickname for the One who has victory over death and freed me from the grave.
And I want a HUGE party thrown. Lots of food, lots of singing, lots of dancing and joy.

I'll be seeing them soon. :o)

& they can pour the warm beer & wine over you, & scrape the plates, & please, somebody remember to bring wood chips for the top dressing!