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Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Frosty!



My lovely wife and I will be up north in New Hampshire less than two more weeks. We have a lot to do during that time. Good thing that not a second of my precious time will be wasted doing Black Friday shopping. Live is too short for that craziness.

We've been staying in town. My daughter and her husband are renovating a house and it's far enough along to be comfortable. That's wonderful as I didn't have to bother opening up my winterized house. It can wait until spring.

My lovely wife and I took a trip up to the homestead today. It's frosty in there. Those night temperatures in the teens freeze things up nicely. We were able to drop off some items at the house and picked up a few more. Our time was limited because the power is completely shut down. It got too dark to work by 3:45 p. m.. Now you know why everyone in the North Country suffers from vitamin D shortages.

Dad's ashes have been dropped off at the local funeral home. His mortal remains will go into the ground next to mom's. It's a bit delicate deciding where to bury someone after remarriage. Personally, I feel the wishes of the living trump those of the dead. Taking dad's ashes north was plan B, only after his widow discovered he could not be placed in the Florida cemetery close to where she lives. When that fell through there was still a spot reserved for him in New Hampshire, so I drove the ashes north.

Had I followed dad's wishes, the ashes would have gone into the dumpster at the park. Dad knew his ashes weren't him. He loved going to that dumpster. The old man was really into getting rid of clutter and the dumpster was his friend. His golf cart was modified to haul cargo. It was like a little truck.

It's been great to meet up with many of the people back home. The people here are warm, but the climate is frosty. We'll be back to sunny Florida and on a boat before long. Have I mentioned that it's frosty around these parts?

I'm not sure if I've gotten soft . . . or smart.


-Sixbears

10 comments:

  1. Both my parent's ashes were scattered in the same place.
    Mom's family were all buried in Bradford, New Hampshire and Dad's family in a town in Jersey. I made sure they were together. Tough choices sometimes.

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    1. My wife's family is all buried in a town that no longer has any living relatives. It's tough since everyone moves around so much these days.

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  2. Don't know if I've already said, but Hubby and I made our final arrangements just a week ago, and got on a short payment plan to take care of it all. Surprising how much still has to be done, and paid for, even if a cremation is the order of the day. But, it's taken care of arrangement wise, so the kids don't have to do anything but call "the company". We'll be together in the National Cemetery here in Houston -
    Stay warm!

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    1. That's a great gift to ones left behind. It's tough to deal with both grief and burial planning.

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  3. Too many hours of darkness and gloominess can lead to depression.

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  4. maybe you have become both soft and smart.
    when we lived in florida i asked a friend of ours how he came to be there.
    he had lived in chicago where he worked for sears.
    one winter's eve he was helping home-going coworkers out of the blizzard covered parking lot [he always kept a snow shovel in the car] when, like the prodigal son, he 'came to himself'.
    what am i doing here? this is the united states, i can go where i want.
    he slogged his way home through the snow and told his wife to start the packing process.
    they have lived in florida ever since.

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    1. I met a guy and his wife living on a boat in FL. He had been a school teacher in Maine. One cold winter he told his wife he was moving to Florida. When, she asked when, now, he said. Did she want to come?

      Northern winters are tough.

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