settling in

Some nice cobwebs giving a gravestone (Mr D.R.H. Lamont, ?-5/12/32) in Newington Cemetery that proper spooky graveyard feel. Due to the poor-quality construction of many of the headstones in this particular graveyard (400-kg lumps of granite sat atop loosely-mortared bricks merely placed on the ground rather than embedded within it) this is one of the few lucky ones still standing; about half the stones have been laid flat on the ground to prevent them accidentally falling over and squashing something. There was a mild uproar recentlish when it was discovered that council grave-attendants were making the less stable stones safer by pushing them over; as a result they subsequently had to use "special gravestone-lowering equipment".

Whilst I'm not a particular fan of the religiosity of graveyards they do provide nice little oases of tree and leaf in the middle of the city. This particular cemetery (being much less neatened than others such as the Grange) is particularly leaf-ridden at this time of year and the recent dampness is making the various paths nice and mulchy. It would be even better were there not a risk of spoiled shoes created by the large amount of dog-walkers who pop into the graveyard.

Although I'll be donating such organs as can be used after my death and letting the rest be used for medical experimentation and demonstration (endlessly fascinating - if there is such as thing as an evening class in anatomy I'd highly recommend it) there will come a time (I think after three years of being poked at by students) when any remaining bits have to be returned to the family and/or disposed of in some way. If any remaining family agree to it I think I'd like my soft tissues to be placed in large jars of formaldehyde and placed in an ominously-lit attic. The skellington could then be prepared, articulated and hung in a wardrobe (or sold to a medical student if the money's any good) or (ideally) placed in a nice forest somewhere in an apelike pose as if brachiating. Perhaps with a little sign hung on the toe saying "don't forget where you came from..."