Snow’s been falling today, which around here means that the temperatures have risen! It’s been too cold to snow for the last week and a half or so, but finally the temperature has come up to the high twenties and the low thirties, which of course means lots of the white stuff! Don’t get excited! This is Idaho, not Los Angeles!
I went out to the woodpile today to get some firewood, which Jordan has kindly been bringing in for us quite a lot this winter. A couple of weeks ago he said he had found one of the chickens, dead, in the pile. After that stint where the mink had killed all of our 35 birds in three days, and Jordan cleaning them up, I really thought he would have sorted out the bird he found in the woodpile without any trouble. Nope. There is was, laying amongst the logs, like it was waiting for me to bring it in and throw it on the fire. Nope again! And I definitely did not have Chicken Soup for lunch after that either!
After lunch, which I will remind you, was NOT Chicken, the lady came by from the funeral home to discuss funeral arrangements for my aunt, in the event of her death, which, like Chicken for lunch, HAS NOT HAPPENED. She might though, as she is in Hospice Care now, which by definition means that she could die anytime in the next six months or so if she carries on as she has, unless she improves. Whatever the case, if she survives longer or not, I have put the wheels into motion as far as getting her funeral paid for, covering more than half the cost with a check today. She has a box, a plot, and a digger arranged. There is to be nothing more than simple services, and no embalming. Her mom does not want it, as she feels my aunt has had a hard enough life without someone messing about with her when she is dead too. So Amy has to be in the ground 2 or 3 days after she dies.
For my part, I don’t care if the coffin has frosting and a cherry on top, so long as my grandmother is happy with the arrangements, and everything is sorted out for her piece of mind. We have different views on death, grandma and me. Granny thinks of angels floating around pushing clouds across the sky, and I think of stardust, with the biggest differences being our views on continues consciousness. These beliefs inform our views on what to do with dead bodies, apparently, with mine allowing a lot more flexibility in the options, such as cremation, sky burial, and green burial. Grandma thinks we all will have our bodies again, and I think that, like a glass of water, there are likely atoms in my body that have passed through other creatures such as dinosaurs.
So, the upstairs living room idea is dead. We arranged furniture tonight, giving up on that for a craft studio area for my wife, saving her several thousand dollars in the costs of building one of her own, or buying a prefab building. This means we have a sofa in our bedroom now! It is so cool! I can sit on it, as I am now, and put my feet onto the bed, making the bed the biggest Ottoman the world! I am so comfy! My desktop PC is finally in a useful position close by, and of course I still have my Netbook, which I am writing this on. I have my Kindle at hand too, and place to keep it here. I think I have found myself a lovely little nest to keep me till winter’s end. Then summer shall find my in a nook on the front porch, with a table, a chair, and a computer, in view of the gardens, the cows, and the other animals. All is right in my world right now!
Kelsey J Bacon