An everyday burial site

Where to spend eternity

Is there a spot you visit often where you would want to be buried?

I love walking in cemeteries. It’s where I go to find solace and peace as a living person, so its convenient for me that legally it should be pretty easy to be laid to rest in one (financially, that’s another matter).

When I was in Portland, Maine, last April, David and I took a walk on the Eastern Promenade Trail and came across a stone bench with this plaque:

Here’s the view from the bench:

I’m not sure if the “dwells here” on the plaque refers to her actual remains or her spirit, but I could tell right away that Barbara Adrian and I shared something in common: a love for taking a daily walk in a beautiful place. From her obituary, I learned that we also shared a passion for teaching, and I wish I felt brave enough to have her sense of adventure (e.g., she trekked and climbed for a month in Nepal and skied all the major mountain regions in North America).

A memorial with a view

David and I recently moved a bit farther from campus, and one of the downsides is that it’s going to require more effort to visit my favorite view on campus, the War Memorial. This spot used to be part of my daily walk, and I’ve photographed across the seasons:

It remains to be seen what my new daily walk will be and whether I will want to spend eternity there, but it’s definitely a factor I’m considering in determining a new route.

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