I took these yesterday as I took a quick break for tea after a long drive before seeing a student. Nice break, eh?
In totally unrelated news, (and this may (or may not) seem out of character, because I don't usually address the topic here) I've really been enjoying Caitlin Doughty's videos, tweets, and posts lately. I heard her on Q a couple of weeks ago (you can listen to the full show, here), and she's just a lovely, articulate person that I respect. Oh, and she's also a mortician - death is what her videos are about. I've always had a rather matter-of-fact view about death, and I think it's at least partly because I attended funerals as a child, accompanied my Dad to collect the deer he hunted and watch in the garage as he skinned them, and then we ate them. Somewhat related: when I was in third grade, a boy in my class skinned a rabbit for show-and-tell. And I didn't think this was out of the ordinary until much, much later. (I, on the other hand, made Dream Whip for the class. A sign of things to come?)
It just seems so sensible to me that the way to truly appreciate life is by embracing death as inevitable. That's what makes living so amazing - we've been given this beautiful opportunity to spend some time here with all of the other particular humans who are on the planet at the same time.
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*Edited to add a comment I left below: Re: death; I couldn't agree more about the thought of losing children (or anyone close, really.) Like every mother, I'm sure, it's my worst-case scenario, and I can't imagine (and don't want to) what it would be like. I realize that writing one sentence and trying to sum up my thoughts on the subject of death is a little bit silly, and maybe I should have waited until I had time and words to write a full, proper post. Anyway, I'll try to explain a tiny bit more, just so it doesn't sound like I rejoice in the idea of losing someone, because that's not the case at all. Rather, I was speaking in very broad strokes about the larger idea of death, and how it's viewed in our culture; the way that death is usually treated as something not to be talked about, to be whisked away and hidden from 'regular' people and avoided at all costs. I think that there is a place to speak thoughtfully and realistically about death. None of which I stated explicitly in the original post, and I probably should have. (And now I have to run out the door to take Phillip to the bus. I hope that makes sense!)
Is the top picture in Barrington? Looks like the causeway beach.
ReplyDeleteI agree about the view of death. Aside from the horrific thought of losing one of my children. That thought will always send chills down my spine.
Hi Jade, Yes, it is! And the second one was somewhere around ERMES; I can't remember exactly where. I love that drive; it's beautiful.
ReplyDeleteRe: death; I couldn't agree more about the thought of losing children (or anyone close, really.) Like every mother, I'm sure, it's my worst-case scenario, and I can't imagine (and don't want to) what it would be like. I realize that writing one sentence and trying to sum up my thoughts on the subject of death is a little bit silly, and maybe I should have waited until I had time and words to write a full, proper post. Anyway, I'll try to explain a tiny bit more, just so it doesn't sound like I rejoice in the idea of losing someone, because that's not the case at all. Rather, I was speaking in very broad strokes about the larger idea of death, and how it's viewed in our culture; the way that death is usually treated as something not to be talked about, to be whisked away and hidden from 'regular' people and avoided at all costs. I think that there is a place to speak thoughtfully and realistically about death. (And now I have to run out the door to take Phillip to the bus. I hope that makes sense!)
I so agree with your view about not hiding death. I'm always disappointed when I go to funerals and there are no children present. My children have always gone to funeral homes with us from the time they were toddlers and have never been traumatized—I assume that's what people are afraid of—and I'm pretty sure very few children would be.
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