Ed Begley Jr. says he’s "just kidding" about being composted in his backyard (Domains: "Hollywood and Green"). Well, I have it in my will that my cremains will become part of the compost heap in the backyard of my son, who is a serious composter and gardener. What better way to stick around than as a part of a living, vital process? No jar on a mantel, thank you, or scattering on some remote site. I'd rather become part of a radish or tomato.
Barbara L. Handler
Evanston, Ill.
Sunday, June 03, 2007
I'd like a salad, blue cheese dressing. Oh, and leave out the tomato and radish, please.
An actual letter to the New York Times Magazine this morning, in response to a profile that ran in a recent issue on "living green":
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
In Dead Earnest
by Lee Hayes
If I should die before I wake,
All my bones and sinew take;
Put me in the compost pile,
And decompose me for a while.
Wind, water, rain will have their way,
Returning me to common clay!
All that I am will feed the trees,
and little fishes in the seas.
When radishes and corn you munch--
You might be having me for lunch!
And then excrete me with a grin--
Chortling, "There goes Lee again!!"
I officiated at a memorable memorial service at sea (very inexpensive through the Neptune Society which takes your ashes 3 miles offshore). When it came time to caste the loved one's ashes on the water, the wind blew some of the gray chalky matter back onto the deck of the boat and the rest of it fell out of the urn and sunk immediately into the sea. Not the stuff of movies. But the grieving family was blessed with a sense of humor and were able to enjoy the lovely boat ride back to shore.
Love the poem--so the idea is not unprecidented!
Incidentally, I plan on spontaneously combusting, so this won't be an issue.
Isn't planning to spontaneously combust a contradiction in terms?
I'm complicated.
Post a Comment