Life in the Garden

Matters of Life and Death

ash scattering

Green Theme Funeral Urns

Greetings from the deep blue sea! Every magazine I’ve picked up lately has a “green” theme, and more press releases touting the green burial movement, so we were inspired to amp up the biodegradable urn line.

Naturally, we’re dreaming of somewhere tropical right now, so we started work on the water burial urns.
sea burial urns

Articles for families considering spreading ashes on land or sea, or perhaps planning an ash scattering ceremony can be found here.

We’ve noticed heavier traffic for families searching for outdoor themed urns, specifically hunting and fishing. Funeral homes might consider grouping urns by hobbies, interest and style if you aren’t already.

biodegradable urn

Crash and Burn

dirt bike
Motorcycles are a passion in the garden. And we’ve been thinking about the riders in our lives that have went down this past year.

Evel. Candace has a great perspective on this.

Sweet James who recently died from injuries sustained in a crash.

Dan Feather who died on his dream bike two weeks after he got it.

Keane Moss,17 and James De Anda, 19 on their dirt bikes. The helmet pictured below was used at the memorial.

Kevin Umlauf, trials and enduro rider. I remember when we were kids, Kevin was doing a wheelie on asphalt, lost control and completely scrapped the hide off his back and legs.

And then a guy I met a couple of weeks ago, Ronnie, who was hit on his bike in Branson on his way home from work on a Monday night during the first week in November. Driver was on her cell phone. Ronnie was invisible. He lost his leg, but not his life.

He looks pretty good, but is pretty pissed off. He worked a server in a Branson restaurant. His insurance has already dropped him and he’s trying to secure disability. And build his upper body so he can learn to walk.

motorcycle memorial

Have a great week!

Pardon My Dust

dorthy parker

Over the holiday weekend we caught an old favorite, “Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle” with Jennifer Jason Leigh as Dorthy Parker, and was reminded of the author’s tragic ending.

Four suicide attempts, no heirs, her will was simple: she left her literary estate to Dr. Martin Luther King. Parker was cremated and her ashes sat on a shelf at the crematory for six years.

A year after Dorthy’s death, Dr. King was assassinated and the Parker estate rolled over to the NAACP. Meanwhile, her ashes had been mailed to her attorney’s office where the box resided in a filing cabinet for 15 years.

In 1988, someone figured out that Mrs. Parker’s ashes were unclaimed, New York tabloids ran stories and readers sent in letters about what should be done with the dust. The NAACP stepped in and took the box and dedicated a memorial garden at the national headquarters in Baltimore, and finally interred the ashes there.

dorthy parker memorial

source: dorthyparker.com

Anubis Egyptian Pet Urn

anubis tattoo

Our Anubis pet urn is back in stock after a brief absence. This funeral urn is a replica of a canopic jar and holds 90 cubic inches. Too bad these styles are not available in a size to handle adult remains, we get several requests for the larger capacity.

Egyptian urns for ashes

Dog lovers tend to favor this cremation urn style.

anubis egyptian urn

Early in Egyptian history, Anubis was a god of the dead. Anubis had three important functions. He supervised the embalming of bodies. He received the mummy into the tomb and performed the Opening of the Mouth ceremony and then conducted the soul in the Field of Celestial Offerings. Most importantly though, Anubis monitored the Scales of Truth to protect the dead from deception and eternal death.

The god of embalming is probably associated with the jackal due to the habits of jackals to lurk about tombs and graves. One of the reasons the early Egyptians sought to make their tombs more elaborate was to keep the bodies safe from the jackals lingering about the graves. It is only natural therefore that a god of mummification would be connected with them. By worshiping Anubis, the Egyptians hoped to invoke him to protect their deceased from jackals, and the natural decay that unprotected bodies endure.

Egyptian god Bastet is also included in our Egypt urn collection.

Urn Garden

Going Home

dove postcard
It’s becoming more common to hear of the family that decides to keep the ashes in the home. Often they have plans to inter the urn or scatter the ashes later. The cremation urn is not going to be hid away in the closet. These families want something beautiful that blends with their decor. The living area or bedroom is usually where the urn will be located.

One of our families has both her parents in a cloisonne style vase up high on a shelf. Tragically, she lost her son a couple of weeks ago and selected an exotic copper funeral urn that will be displayed on the mantle, with a piece of art from her son’s collection.

The son’s parents are Vietnam Vets who plan to be cremated and interred at Arlington. Due to the transitional nature of the rest of the family, it’s been difficult to determine a final resting place.

Cloisonne and blown glass urns are popular selections for families that want a discreet way to keep the urn close. The strength and beauty of cloisonne is an excellent choice.