The evolution of death...

[birdguy 3,943]

Early man buried their dead in a hole in the ground.  That lasted for eons.  Some societies opted for cremation and that is becoming more and more popular since the Catholic Church no longer forbids it (but prefers a funeral with the body present and burial in a cemetery).  Some Native Americans had put the body on a platform for the birds to feed on and I once heard Eskimos left bodies out on the ice for polar bears to eat.

Then dumping bodies in holes in the ground gave way to mummifying them or putting them in a box before burying them.

We had a friend who died a few years ago and she opted for new type of burial.  She was buried in a biodegradable sack and buried next to a tree so her body could provide nourishment for it as it decayed.  This is now permitted in many locales.

But what started me thinking about all this was asking the produce lady if they had any slivered almonds left because the container was empty.  I like slivered almonds on my oatmeal in the morning.  It gives the mush a bit of a crunch.

The produce lady' arms were covered with tattoos.  She proceeded to tell me about them.  One was for her 12 year old daughter.  Another for her mother.  One for her husband.  Then she told me the entire right side of her body was tattooed.

I got to thinking that fully tattooed persons might consider taxidermy as opposed to burial or cremation to preserve their art.  It's probably not legal now but with political pressure could be come legal in the future.

I can see it now.  Visit someone's house and they tell you, "That's a copy of a Renoir hanging over the fireplaced and that's grandma in all of her tattooed glory standing over there in the corner.  People display moose heads and stuffed swordfish so why not tattooed grandmas?

Noel

[Ron Attwood 3,464]

53 minutes ago, birdguy said:

I got to thinking that fully tattooed persons might consider taxidermy as opposed to burial or cremation to preserve their art.  It's probably not legal now but with political pressure could be come legal in the future.

I can see it now.  Visit someone's house and they tell you, "That's a copy of a Renoir hanging over the fireplace and that's grandma in all of her tattooed glory standing over there in the corner.  People display moose heads and stuffed swordfish so why not tattooed grandmas?

Nope, can't see anything to disagree with there.

For myself I'll be happy for my remains to be thrown in the wheelie bin and taken to the dump. Although I guess some environmentalist would complain.

[Bob Scott 7,720]

After over 60 years of the All-American diet and enough scotch to claim controlling interest in the Glenfiddich distillery, wherever they bury me will probably have to be fenced off and declared a Superfund site!  😈

[birdguy 3,943]

1 hour ago, w6kd said:

and enough scotch to claim controlling interest in the Glenfiddich distillery,

I never heard of Glenfiddich.  My Scotch of preference is The Glenlivit.

Noel

[spilok 1,133]

1 hour ago, birdguy said:

I never heard of Glenfiddich.  My Scotch of preference is The Glenlivit.

Noel

Never HEARD of Glenfiddich?  I find that hard to believe (if you are a Glenlivit drinker)!

[birdguy 3,943]

15 minutes ago, spilok said:

I find that hard to believe (if you are a Glenlivit drinker)!

My commanding officer introduced me to Glenlivit 40 years ago and I never tried anything else.  I liked it better than Bourbon.  But I haven't imbibed in much alcohol the last decade or so.  I'll have a beer if offered at the friend's house or a glass of wine on Christmas or Thanksgiving or sometimes when we go out to eat.  Not that I have a problem with alcohol but there are reasons not to have it in the house.

Noel

[Mike A 338]

https://slate.com/human-interest/2011/02/the-greek-burial-crisis-with-land-a-valuable-resource-the-state-requires-the-recycling-of-cemetery-space.html

[Fielder 3,670]

Which reminds me, apparently nobody has found Alexander's tomb. From 1000 BC to the year 1, Alexander is the most famous person living. I'm sure we know where all the great Caesars and Pharaohs are buried (they were right after and right before that time period).

[Patco Lch 1,465]

9 hours ago, Fielder said:

Which reminds me, apparently nobody has found Alexander's tomb. From 1000 BC to the year 1, Alexander is the most famous person living. I'm sure we know where all the great Caesars and Pharaohs are buried (they were right after and right before that time period).

Didn’t you know, he was reincarnated as George Patton.

[n4gix 4,947]

Both my late mother and father chose to be cremated. I have their cremains in cardboard ossuarys which are on the floor under my desk. I'm planning to make arrangements for them to be placed in my coffin and buried with me. Or, failing that for me to be cremated and their ashes mixed with mine before being placed in a permanent ossuary to be placed in a vault. This is all dependent on what facilities the VA has available at the time.

[birdguy 3,943]

I sent my brother's ashes to his sister-in-law in California.  She got a hold of hius runner friends and they had a little ceremony and scattered his ashes at the Marin Headlands, those cliffs on the northwest side of the Golden Gate Bridge.  Those were his wishes.

As far as my ashes are concerned...any landfill will do.

Noel 

[Paul Deluca 164]

3 hours ago, birdguy said:

I sent my brother's ashes to his sister-in-law in California.  She got a hold of hius runner friends and they had a little ceremony and scattered his ashes at the Marin Headlands, those cliffs on the northwest side of the Golden Gate Bridge.  Those were his wishes.

As far as my ashes are concerned...any landfill will do.

Noel 

Please don't beat yourself up with the landfill thing Noel. Yourself, and Father Bill are well liked by me.I was thinking maybe your ashes can be scattered at  MCRD in Diego. Just a thought

 

[psolk 3,040]

On 9/27/2021 at 3:26 AM, Fielder said:

Which reminds me, apparently nobody has found Alexander's tomb. From 1000 BC to the year 1, Alexander is the most famous person living. I'm sure we know where all the great Caesars and Pharaohs are buried (they were right after and right before that time period).

I would argue Genghis Khan is the most significant person whose burial place has never been found.  I've watched some documentaries around his death and the lengths that they took to preserve the secrecy around his burial and it is fascinating...  

As for me personally, well I wrote a post the other day without realizing how personal this topic would become.  Sadly since writing this I spent a few days in hospital and have mini-stroked 5 times now.  Worst one my BP hit 191/148 and we are consistently seeing spikes of 180/120 out of nowhere whereas my normal is 105/70.  I told my wife to give my ashes to one of my racing friends and let him toss them out the window at the track while standing on the loud pedal...  Leave me in my happy place 🙂  

 

Edited September 28, 2021 by psolk

[birdguy 3,943]

13 hours ago, Paul Deluca said:

I was thinking maybe your ashes can be scattered at  MCRD in Diego. Just a thought

Yeah that's a thought.  I was a Dago Devil Dog, not a PI Pu**y.

Noel

[Fielder 3,670]

Prayers sent upwards for Paul Solk.