italian ashes: venice

I swear this is the last entry about ashes for a while.

Venice. Everyone loves Venice. Mom had a special fondness for it. Almost an irrational fondness for it! Of course it's a wonderful place to visit, but one of the main reasons I wanted to go on this particular trip was specifically to make sure I could scatter some Mom ashes there. It's very important that she be there, and I know Dad would be happy to be there too. So we hopped on a vaporetto and cruised the Grand Canal.

There was a noisy gaggle of Italian teenagers crowding our boat for the first half of our journey, but happily they disembarked somewhere in the outer lagoon, so we were then able to have the open-air back section to ourselves. It was quite chilly and breezy, but I attempted to discretely deposit their ashes -- one canister at a time -- over the back edge of the boat and into the Canal. This way they can flow throughout the city, up and down the waterways, past the decrepit palazzos, under the many bridges, around the gilded gondolas, and soak up all that Venice has to offer.

Unfortunately, in my nervousness about getting caught or reprimanded, I was hasty, and soon realized that most of the ashes had accumulated on the edge of the boat instead of falling directly into the water! Dang! And if you know anything about anything, it's pretty clear that this isn't just "dust" on the back of the boat. I tried to casually brush it off with a rolled up map, but to little avail. So, Mom and Dad are cruising the Canal on a boat instead of in the water. You might envision them sitting back there dangling their feet in the cold water, enjoying the views. Eventually, they'll blow off or get rained on or something, and ultimately become one with the waters of Venice.

I still have plenty of ashes to spare, so perhaps I'll take them with me to Hawaii at Christmas. It's not a place they ever visited or expressed interest in, but I'm sure it's beautiful, so why not? Mom's sister Joyce has scattered her ashes in a few scenic spots in Rocky Mountain National Park. And I'll definitely take her to Cannon Beach up in Oregon some day. Until then, I guess wherever I travel, I'll bring them along too (one way or another).