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

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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

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


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   

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

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

Robert Duvall... from A Night In Old Mexico

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. 

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:



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

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 to view media files and links)

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". 

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

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


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.

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.

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.

Quote:


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. 

Quote:


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. 

Quote:


  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. 

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

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


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.
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.

 

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


  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.

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

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.)

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

pd

Now that's funny!   

Well Played PD

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

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! 

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

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

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

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

I grew up with eight sisters. 

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


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.