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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 1,624
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 1,624 |
Before my wife's Uncle Doug died, he stipulated that he wanted his ashes to be spread on Lake Tekapo, one of the Southern Lakes (and currently down to the bones in terms of water because of a dry summer and high electricity demand).
So a bunch of friends and relatives turned up at the boat launching ramp at the south end of the lake on the appointed day, and we all piled into a launch owned by one of his sons and headed off out into the middle of the lake to do the deed. To cut a short story shorter, it was windy. Very strong, very steady katabatic winds coming down off the Southern Alps. Not an uncommon phenomenon. The norm, in fact.
I'm not sure just how much of the urn's contents (well, it was a plastic-lined brown paper bag, actually) wound up on and in the lake, but I do know that a fair amount of Uncle Doug ended up travelling back to various corners of New Zealand later that day ...
If he hadn't already been dead, Doug would have killed himself laughing. He was that kind of guy.
The family motto now runs along the lines of "Ashes to ashes, dust down the shower plug'ole!".
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Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 2,636
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 2,636 |
Yup, you've got to pick your day when scattering ashes. A friend of my sister wanted to scatter his mum off the high dunes at Sleeping Bear in Leelanau County. He forgot to check which way the wind was blowin' the day he took her out. The wind was blowing in from off Lake Michigan. Mom brought tears to his eyes one last time that day, not to mention grit in the teeth etc. I'm thinking maybe my kids should tie me up in little bags with fish line and a small stone in each one. Just think of the catharsis they could find in calling me an old bag over and over  I can see them now, tossing me off a cliff yelling "There goes Mom, stoned again!" 
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 1,624
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 1,624 |
Well ... you'll all think that I do nothing but get rid of rellies, but when my uncle died and was being buried (intact), we got to the "ashes to ashes, dust to dust" bit. A few people threw some soil onto the coffin. His grieving widow said to one her grandchildren, "Go on, dear, throw some dirt on Granddad's face. It's the last opportunity you'll get and you shouldn't miss it."
My sister and I had to turn away. It was the first thing that day that brought tears to our eyes and, since we have very similar senses of the ridiculous, we were holding our sides and gasping. It was helped along somewhat by the fact that we both had pretty much the same opinion of the old basket as his grieving widow ...
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,819
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,819 |
Creamation where in the corpse is folded into dairy products and whipped to stiff peaks.
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Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,154
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,154 |
Thanks Alex, for the sick-and-twisted laugh out loud I needed after today.
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 171
member
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member
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 171 |
It has always been my intention to continue to serve my fellow man by being buried next to a library in the far north, with just my bum sticking out above the frozen ground, as a parking convenience for bicycle riders.
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Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467
Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jul 2000
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TEd
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Joined: Aug 2000
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204 |
You'd soon get tired of it, John
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Joined: Aug 2002
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,154 |
All part of the cycle of life.
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