This was posted on another canoe board and thought I would share.

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I'll have to check but I think this was included in his first fishing guide book that I bought about that time?

This is my idolized way to leave this realm.
I've watched too many friends/family lay in a hospital/nursing home, doped out of their minds and stuck full of tubes and IV's.

They don't even know where they are or who anyone is. Mercifully they sometimes pass quickly but often they linger for a long time especially if they have GOOD insurance.

  IMHO we treat our dying pets better than we do many humans when it's their time to go.

Dying in a place you love would be my preferred way to go if possible. Since that's probably not going to happen, then make it quick and fast.

I have recently been lobbying with my nieces and nephews by increasing offers of monetary compensation, to "Take Me Out"  at least 45 minutes before I have to be sentenced to the nursing home.

A couple have offered to do it now for free, but I think they are only joking.  I think?

MossBack

Thanks for sharing.
My wife and I talk about this as "when the time comes to take our walk in the woods" with more seriousness than jest.  Then wonder if we will be of sound enough mind to even remember this choice when the time actually comes.   :-?  We shall see, but there could be no better way to leave this form, in my opinion, than by personal choice in a place you love rather than fighting it.


 

solotripper wrote on Jun 30^th, 2019 at 12:26pm:

I'll have to check but I think this was included in his first fishing guide book that I bought about that time?

You have a good memory, ST!  I remembered it, as well, from the 1994 version of Furtman's "A Boundary Waters Fishing Guide" that still sits in a prominent spot on my bookshelf.  This piece appears as a sort of "epilogue" to the text. 

I'm glad to see it being referenced, still.  I know I've referred to it many times over the years in various conversations.  It's a real gem.

I may not actually BE "physically" up there when MY time rolls around.  However, you can bet some similar reminisces will be among the cherished memories I dwell upon during those last moments.

Hmmm, much hallowed ground where we've known and shared peace and great beauty; sounds to me like the ideal spot to ease into whatever comes next.

Thanks for re-posting, TomT!

Jimbo   8-)

Wow! What a great piece of writing. I was reminded of a canoe partner that had 35 years on me. We had shared many a campsite and nights at my old cabin in the northwoods. He was truly a man of the outdoors and shunned modern trappings. As he neared death one fall his family took him to the emergency room and there was a mixup and the paperwork he had signed about what measures to take were not noted and he was hooked up to a cluster of tubes and hoses. I was not family and told the nurse that when she asked. I said I was just a good friend that wanted to see him one more time. I entered his room and he looked over at me unable to talk for all the tubes hooked to his nose. I will never forget the wild look in his eyes that yelled "set me free." The paperwork was found and they did remove all the tubes and he was able pass away a week later.

A very touching story.  I've oft wondered how I'm going to feel toward the end of life.  I currently have no desire to be around if the quality of life isn't there with me.  I guess I'll just have to jump that hurdle when I get there.

One thing I do know is what makes me happy.  One of those things is what we all have in common, a love for all things beautiful, especially if we have a paddle in hand.  I'm going to try to keep doing these things as long as I can.

There's a passage in the book "The Velveteen Rabbit" where the toy skin horse is talking to the toy velveteen rabbit about becoming "real" that goes something like this......

"Generally by the time you are real most of your hair has been loved off and you become loose in the joints and very shabby.  But these things don't matter at all because once you are real you can never be ugly except to those who don't understand".

Somehow I think most of us have become real.

Safe travels........Mike
 

My father's father worked all his life for the railroad, and was a single parent, and my father grew up all around trains.  It was his passion and multiple times a year he would take off just to ride around the country on trains.  I remember going to the train station one day to pick him up and did not see him departing from any of the cars.  Then I looked to the front and he was climbing down from the engine/locomotive.

He was riding across canada on such a trip when they noticed he had not shown up for breakfast. A conductor discovered him dead in his cabin, having died of a heart attack overnight.  If only we all could be so lucky to leave this world that way.

" Living with someone having to feed me oatmeal, scares me more than dying "

Robert Duvall... from A Night In Old Mexico

MossBack wrote on Jul 3^rd, 2019 at 2:37pm:

" Living with someone having to feed me oatmeal, scares me more than dying " Robert Duvall... from A Night In Old Mexico

  Great Line and a good movie as well.
If you're a wilderness paddler or outdoors person you're a very or fairly Independent person. The idea of being helpless with little or no chance of getting better would have to scare you.

  I don't like the idea of people feeling sorry for me either. Even WORSE, I start feeling sorry for MYSELF.


I never saw a wild thing feel sorry for itself.
A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough
without ever having felt sorry for itself.

David Herbert Lawrence

I think the idea of expiring on a canoe trip solo is very romantic.  But then I think of the reality afterwards.  I mean, will your body lay there for days or weeks decomposing?  Surely the mice and birds would have a field day and just maybe the wolves would too. 

Then there's the whole body recovery.  Do I really want to put others through this?  I think one last good trip then make sure all the affairs are in order before ....  I was going to say something about suicide but I can't bring myself to go there.  I guess I'll have to see how it plays out. 

Tom T,
I have the solution for your concern.  Become a base camper.   Tell them where you are going and then they won't have to look for you.  The complication is timing your death to coincide with your base camping.

When I took my first real solo, one of my paddling friends encouraged me to use the SPOT locator every night when I got into camp.  I assumed it was to see how I was progressing.  He later admitted, or claimed, that he and a group of other friends reckoned it would make it easier to recover the body.  Its good to have friends.

MossBack

MossBack wrote on Jul 4^th, 2019 at 6:33pm:

When I took my first real solo, one of my paddling friends encouraged me to use the SPOT locator every night when I got into camp.  I assumed it was to see how I was progressing.  He later admitted, or claimed, that he and a group of other friends reckoned it would make it easier to recover the body.  Its good to have friends. MossBack

Don't believe them MB, they WANT your stuff!  ;) ;D ;D

MossBack wrote on Jul 4^th, 2019 at 6:33pm:

When I took my first real solo, one of my paddling friends encouraged me to use the SPOT locator every night when I got into camp.  I assumed it was to see how I was progressing.  He later admitted, or claimed, that he and a group of other friends reckoned it would make it easier to recover the body.  Its good to have friends. MossBack

Walk miles from the lake before the end. No need for recovery of the body; nature is gifted at recycling.

Solus wrote on Jul 4^th, 2019 at 8:22pm:

MossBack wrote on Jul 4th, 2019 at 6:33pm: When I took my first real solo, one of my paddling friends encouraged me to use the SPOT locator every night when I got into camp.  I assumed it was to see how I was progressing.  He later admitted, or claimed, that he and a group of other friends reckoned it would make it easier to recover the body.  Its good to have friends. MossBack Walk miles from the lake before the end. No need for recovery of the body; nature is gifted at recycling.

I wouldn't want to be eaten alive by bugs until I passed and the critters re-cycled me.  ;) :o :o

I think the best way would be to take your hammock with a bug net, little fly and a day-pack with whatever you wanted to ease your passing? NO judgment here.

Then PUSH your loaded canoe off and let the wind take it down the lake. Big a big enough lake they wouldn't find you but someone would find your canoe/gear with in my case a NOTE saying "Do NOT waste your time looking, I'm IN my Happy Place!  ;) ;D ;D

Hopefully whoever found you canoe would respect that and be very vague to the bureaucrats who would want to find you.

I don't have plans to off myself if things get bad but I do want my ashes to go to Quetico in the form of a Bios Urn.   (You need to Login or Register

Hopefully my son follows through and my ashes will help a white pine grow tall and strong on an island in Quetico.  I'm actually going to be scouting locations on my September trip. 

I'm a person who detests cemeteries.  No one has ever been cremated in my family on either side so I'll set a new trend.  I like the idea of my grandchildren planning a canoe trip to see "Poppa's Tree".  :)

St......I think you are right.   Classic example of "If you die, we are splitting up your gear"

MB

For those who have determined friends of family.

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I am sure someone has posted this before, but it seemed to fit the conversation.

MB

Sign me up for that VIKING FUNERAL  ;) ;D ;D
Now that's my idea of going out in style.  ;) ;D

TomT wrote on Jul 4^th, 2019 at 10:00pm:

I don't have plans to off myself if things get bad but I do want my ashes to go to Quetico in the form of a Bios Urn.   (You need to Login or Register Hopefully my son follows through and my ashes will help a white pine grow tall and strong on an island in Quetico.  I'm actually going to be scouting locations on my September trip.  I'm a person who detests cemeteries.  No one has ever been cremated in my family on either side so I'll set a new trend.  I like the idea of my grandchildren planning a canoe trip to see "Poppa's Tree".  :)

I like that idea.  I have wanted my ashes scattered in Cherokee Lake, but I suspect the bios urn would appeal more to my grandchildren than the idea of random scattering.  And I have no longer any belief that they would go all the way to Cherokee together, so perhaps they could find a nice site on an entry-level lake and bury a small urn like that.

My father was the first in my family to be cremated, but he is buried beside my mother.  Cemeteries don't bother me a bit--we live right across the road from a really pretty old-fashioned small-town cemetery and I sometimes go over there to walk.  But I have never wanted to be embalmed, viewed in "repose", and buried in a big heavy casket like all of my, and my husband's relatives.  No one in Spartan1's family has ever been cremated, so when the time comes for one or both of us, we will be "breaking ground" in a sense by whatever we do. 

Viewing embalmed bodies is something I don't understand. It's like the shell of a cicada or something.  It's pretty downright gross.  Count me out.  And going to a cemetery, standing by a grave remembering the person?  I think visiting a tree with a bio urn of a loved one underneath is much more inspiring.  Maybe someday a great, great grandchild of mine will carve my name into the trunk of the white pine I helped to grow. It's pretty romantic to think about.  :)

This is, perhaps an odd place to share my story, but in light of your last post, TomT, I am going to do so, and try to make it short.

I have a dear cousin with whom I have had a daily email correspondence for more than three years.  She is younger than I, in her late 60's.  She had a "best friend" all through high school and they were roommates for a year at college.  Very, very close.  I get that.  Her friend died after a battle with metastacized breast cancer, perhaps 10-12 years ago.  A sad turn of events.

She visits Jean's grave several times a year, and when she did so the last time (it was on the "anniversary" of Jean's death) she told me that she left flowers and also chocolate, because "Jean loved chocolate." 

When I responded to her email I said that I didn't understand leaving food at a cemetery by a grave.  It seems to me just a way to feed the critters, not to mention a dog that might happen by and get sick from injesting the chocolate.  It isn't like Jean, wherever you believe she is now, can enjoy this chocolate.   :-/

This has caused a rift between me and my friend.  I am learning now that being open and frank about your ideas concerning death is a way to offend some people very quickly.  It is such a personal thing, and I guess if I don't understand it, that is irrelevant.  But I keep wondering--do people really do that??  Do they leave food offerings at cemeteries?  Is this normal and I have just never heard of it?

My cousin says she was "honoring" her friend. 

To me, once you have left this world, your body is an empty shell.  Just something to be disposed of.  I will have a new body in Heaven, hopefully a lot better than this one.   ;)  I don't want anyone "viewing" me in a casket. (that is what they call it where my husband grew up, a "viewing")  I have always prefered to say "visitation", since I go to those functions to speak with the family, not to look at the body.

I have been told that Catholics do not approve of scattering remains; they believe that the body must still be intact when interred.  That is why I made the comment about the bio-urn appealing to our grandchildren more, since our granddaughter is a Catholic.  I just need to hope that they would be willing to travel to the BWCA to honor "my" request.  Realistically, I guess I will have absolutely no control about what happens to me after I am gone.  Obviously, if I go first, Spartan1 knows about my wishes and I am sure he will see to it properly.

That’s a very good you make Lynda about it be very personal for people. I respect people’s beliefs but am confident enough to speak up about my own. I grew up Catholic and largely kept my mouth shut about cemeteries and funerals so as to not rock the boat. It felt liberating to be able to speak freely about this stuff with my families etc. I guess speaking your beliefs but respecting others is a sign of maturity. I wasn’t able to speak freely until my 40s for fear of a the backlash of going against the norm.

Sp2,

  I was raised Catholic but no longer practice the faith or any established faith for that matter.

I don't consider myself religious but I do believe in a Higher Power and some sort of afterlife.

The Catholic Church has changed its church laws on how the faithful should be interned. They even allow cremation now BUT under their rules. They still don't allow your ashes to be scattered in a special place.

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I have a friend who every year on her Mother's Birthday brings some fresh baked Peanut Butter cookies to her mother's grave. She leaves them on top of some fresh cut flowers. I asked her about it and she said they loved to bake together and those were her favorite cookies. She like your friend didn't see it as being "odd" at all.

  The more we talked the more I came to realize her gesture was LESS about doing something for her Mother and more about doing something for her.
She missed her Mother and their times together. Those cookies were just her way of making sure she never forgot them.

I think your cousin might be doing the same with that chocolate? I'm a practical person too BUT with things that are emotion-driven, I've sadly learned from speaking rationally about them, you end up causing problems you never meant too.

As you said, matters of life and death are very personal and honesty isn't always the best policy when your views don't match someone else's. I've learned that the hard way with family members.

I agree totally with what you are saying ST, and I have apologized to my cousin for my blunder.  It cleared the air somewhat, but our relationship will never be quite as comfortable as it was.  I hope i have learned from the experience, and will try to be more careful on such "hot topics" in the future.

The anecdote about the peanut butter cookies is exactly like what I learned from my cousin!  I still don't understand it, but I have to now respect it.  That won't do me any harm.   ;)  I loved to bake cookies and pies with my grandmother, but when I feel like baking, I try to take a few of my cookies to one of the people whom I visit from our church who are homebound.  The "Stuck-in's" as our new pastor calls them.  To me that is honoring Grandma a lot more than leaving them to rot on her tombstone.  But, of course, that can be said for flowers, too.

I will explore the link you sent.  I am not Catholic and I feel no need to abide by the rules of the RC Church, but I also think if scattering would make the experience more traumatic for our granddaughter and son-in-law, it might be kinder to not do that.

Quote:

I am not Catholic and I feel no need to abide by the rules of the RC Church, but I also think if scattering would make the experience more traumatic for our granddaughter and son-in-law, it might be kinder to not do that.

I think that Bio-Urn might be a good compromise IF your kin has some issues with your request?

It's not scattering in the traditional sense and from a "green" perspective, having another tree is a good thing right.  8-)

solotripper wrote on Jul 5^th, 2019 at 1:38pm:

Quote: I am not Catholic and I feel no need to abide by the rules of the RC Church, but I also think if scattering would make the experience more traumatic for our granddaughter and son-in-law, it might be kinder to not do that. I think that Bio-Urn might be a good compromise IF your kin has some issues with your request? It's not scattering in the traditional sense and from a "green" perspective, having another tree is a good thing right.  8-)

That is what I am thinking.  And really, I don't think God cares if I am laid to rest in a cemetery, or at the base of a tree.  The BWCA is a "sacred place", too.   :)

Quote:

That is what I am thinking.  And really, I don't think God cares if I am laid to rest in a cemetery, or at the base of a tree.  The BWCA is a "sacred place", too.   Smiley

Being raised a Catholic by an Irish Catholic Mother and a Grandmother who after her husband died became a housekeeper for a Parish Priest, I've been in or seen pictures of some magnificent churches/cathedrals.

  Catholics believe that GOD is all knowing/seeing and all PRESENT.  IF that is the case then sitting in the beauty of a place like the BWCA/Q or any magnifiecent NATURAL cathedral as the sun rises/sets is as CLOSE to God as your ever going to get while still breathing IMHO.

I think that EVERYTIME I have one of those special moments in the Q. Man-Made is beautiful, GOD made is DIVINE.  ;)

At the risk of hijacking this thread, I will say that for me, I did not go to the wilderness to seek God.  I feel closer to God when I am joined in worship with believers in church, or when I am serving His people by volunteering, or working with the choir. 

I went to the wilderness to find myself, not God.  While I agree about the wonderful spiritual power of a BWCA/Q/Algonquin, etc. sunset or sunrise, I still maintain that I didn't go there to be "closer to God."

I can pray anywhere.  Sitting, standing, lying down, swimming in a lake, paddling, working in my kitchen.  But, somehow, I just don't feel His Presence any more up north than in my home congregation, or in my daily life. 

Perhaps I am odd in that regard.  But then, I find as I get older, that I am odd in many ways.   ;D ;D

Still, I would like for my remains to be in my favorite place, not in some cemetery.  And the money for the gravesite and headstone to be donated to a worthy cause.

Sorry.  Now get back to your discussion.   ;)

Quote:

I still maintain that I didn't go there to be "closer to God."

  I don't go there with that intent either BUT somehow HE just keeps presenting things that make HIS presence undeniable IF you believe in Him.

I like the fishing too on a more practical note.  ;) ;D ;D

The cost of a traditional catholic funeral is outrageous. The casket for my father in law was $6,000. The full cost of everything came to $21,000.  I told my wife “no way are you doing that for me” and decided right there I would be cremated. She agreed for the same if she went first. Funerals have become big business.

I completely agree with everything, everyone said.    But, I am not sure what it says about the group, me included,  when the subject of "The Last Portage' " garners more posts than any other conversation in recent memory?

One of our esteemed members here at QJ was speaking to a group and mentioned he was 70 something.  He said statistically he should be dead.   The part that stuck with me was his next line.   "I have no interest in being dead, I only have interest in being alive".    (details may be slightly off)

I Like Canoes   (Required Canoeing Content)

MB

MossBack wrote on Jul 5^th, 2019 at 5:45pm:

I completely agree with everything, everyone said.    But, I am not sure what it says about the group, me included,  when the subject of "The Last Portage' " garners more posts than any other conversation in recent memory?

What it says:
We're getting old.

On another note when my brother's large dog passed recently he had it cremated- $225.
If I can't have my bones scattered by critters in the woods wrap me in  a fur coat and a plastic bag and take me to the pet crematorium.

Solus wrote on Jul 5^th, 2019 at 8:48pm:

MossBack wrote on Jul 5th, 2019 at 5:45pm: I completely agree with everything, everyone said.    But, I am not sure what it says about the group, me included,  when the subject of "The Last Portage' " garners more posts than any other conversation in recent memory? What it says: We're getting old. On another note when my brother's large dog passed recently he had it cremated- $225. If I can't have my bones scattered by critters in the woods wrap me in  a fur coat and a plastic bag and take me to the pet crematorium.

When my old rescue Tom Cat was about 20 yrs old he had a bladder blockage, very common in male cats. I spent the bare minimum to get his up and running. They wanted me to spend $1500 for the best surgery.

I said I was spending more than I ever had for ALL the pets I've EVER owned and that he still had a few of those 9 lives left. ;)

THAT comment didn't go over well at all. ;) ;D ;D
What people spend on their animals even in death is beyond me. I buried all my dead pets and planted a small tree/bush on top of them. The plants loved the fertilizer and I thought that was a fitting memorial to them.

I knew a guy years back who went to Hawaii and "accidentally" fell into a volcano.  :-?
  Turned out he had Stage 4 bone cancer. That saved ALL the funeral costs. ;) ;) ;D ;D

 

ST, that reminds me of the old codger who owned a cabin at the base of Mt. St. Helens.  Here's his story.

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TomT wrote on Jul 5^th, 2019 at 11:20pm:

ST, that reminds me of the old codger who owned a cabin at the base of Mt. St. Helens.  Here's his story.   (You need to Login or Register

  There was a time when being a rugged individualist
was something to admire. Now increasingly if you don't toe the "line" your considered a pariah.

solotripper wrote on Jul 6^th, 2019 at 2:24am:

There was a time when being a rugged individualist was something to admire. Now increasingly if you don't toe the "line" you're considered a pariah.

I prefer "black sheep".   8-) ;D

And what, pray tell, is wrong with black sheep?  We used to enjoy them very much!   ::)

---

;D ;D

Couldn't resist, Tom!  That was Amanda, with her son Amazing.  Amanda had twins that year (2009) and one was black (Amazing) and the other one was white (Grace.)

I am surprised nobody has mentioned my inclination.  I will have my body donated to a medical college.

The Pheonix Boatworks option is intriguing...last chance to buried with a stripper.

pd

portage dog wrote on Jul 7^th, 2019 at 7:12pm:

The Pheonix Boatworks option is intriguing...last chance to buried with a stripper. pd

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Now that's funny!   ;D

(taking a bow...)  I'll be in town all week!

Well Played PD

I've been planning the bios-urn for a few years myself. I love the idea. I think I want a red maple though. With the climate getting warmer there will be more deciduous trees and those are beautiful. My son has promised me he would honor my wishes.

I think it is good if one finds themselves in canoe country or if they find God there. What is important is that they/we find a balance that hadn't been found before. My personal belief is that God is in all of us, so if you find yourself, you are also finding God.

I was talking to a buddy and asked him if he had ever heard about the Bios-Urn?

He told me no, so I told him what it was. He remarked that when his Mother passed her wish was to be cremated and her ashes spread on the family property in Northern Michigan. She said she wanted to be where the Wild Flowers grew.

The family had her cremated and mixed her ashes with WILDFLOWER seed mix and spread on some open land as you would do for a deer feed plot!!

That has got me thinking about a DIY burial. Just need someone to put you there and make sure the flowers are native to the region.

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:)
It's a keeper!

Hi Jill.  That has to be your shortest post of all time.  ;D :D

I like how we can use emoticons over here.  So, I've always been curious how you thought up your screen name.  You're Beth after all.  And, it's my thread so I can hijack it.

It's good to have more females chiming in over here.  Welcome!  :)

Jackpine

Jack and Jill went....

From a fellow admirer of pinus banksiana.

Ok that's clever.  And I was going to change my user name to JoeMaple.  ;)

TomT -

Are you implying I'm verbose on other forums - no way.

Thank you for the welcome - great to be here. Feels just like my childhood home - full of boisterous men who get nothing done but wisecracking. Just kidding!

JillPine - from Jack Pine. Scraggly, prickly, tough and northern.  ;)

Yes, welcome Jillpine.  It is nice to see another female in this place.  There aren't a whole lot of us here.   ;)

Thank you, S2 - also looking forward to ongoing trip reports and photos from you! I love them and have for many years on other forums. Visited your favorite site on Cherokee early this summer with my son. I left some good thoughts and prayers in your honor!

Welcome JillPine.  I have enjoyed your posts "over yonder" I will likely enjoy them here as well.

Thank you - I'll strive to be concise around here.  ;)

Ironically, unlike TomT,  I'm a consummate introvert, requiring a ratio of 2:1 for time alone: time with other people. Maybe that's the beauty of online forums. You can just paddle away when it gets to be too much. 

Incidentally, have any of you ever heard or met Michael Furtman, the author of the original post? I saw him speak years ago in Duluth - just terrific. So precise, soft-spoken, careful, and obviously so concerned with the protection of the area. His writings have influenced me tremendously over the years.

Gosh, I've already managed to ramble. Have a great weekend, everyone! Get out there and paddle if you're able.

Welcome JillPine.  And here I thought this was a good ol' boys club around here.  I suppose we're going to have to start putting the toilet seat down now ::)

mpeebles wrote on Aug 31^st, 2019 at 11:24am:

Welcome JillPine.  And here I thought this was a good ol' boys club around here.  I suppose we're going to have to start putting the toilet seat down now ::)

Don't forget IC Mike  ;) ;D ;D
She probably has more tripping time than just about anyone else here or close to it.

We have SP2 as well. I'd include PJ's Queen of the Nile wife but I'm sure he brings in a PORT-POTTY with LID for her.  ;) ::) ;D ;D  It's GOOD to be the Queen.  8-)

I grew up with eight sisters.  :-/

mpeebles wrote on Sep 1^st, 2019 at 12:33pm:

I grew up with eight sisters.  :-/

  My buddy grew up the baby with 4 older sisters.
He likes to tell people how hard it was for him to be potty trained because he insisted on sitting like his sisters.  ;) ;D ;D

JillPine wrote on Aug 30^th, 2019 at 2:42pm:

Thank you - I'll strive to be concise around here.  ;) Ironically, unlike TomT,  I'm a consummate introvert, requiring a ratio of 2:1 for time alone: time with other people. Maybe that's the beauty of online forums. You can just paddle away when it gets to be too much.

Don't confuse TomT with Tom.  Tom is very much a classic introvert.  TomT is a bit of a character played by Tom.   ;)  Shug is the same way.  He talked about it a few years ago.  He's very much an introvert also.