My Father and His Brother

Today is Father's Day, so I spent a chunk of it at my parents' house helping my father in the garden, and pulling out books for him to sort (they have a donation appointment at the local Friends of Library shop on Tuesday), and of course making the weekly soufflé:

Somehow, one of the last dollops of the mix make a heart on top of the cooked soufflé.  At Dad's request it is accompanied by fresh green beans almandine, and I surprised my parents with a half-dozen banana muffins.

Yesterday we drove out to the coast to scatter my uncle's ashes.  I'd found a boat and crew that do it (unlike the Neptune Society, which did my grandmother last month, they are not full-service, so we carried the ashes) with the family aboard, which seemed important to us.  We'd originally planned to do this last autumn, but the chosen day was overcast and damp and really chilly, so we agreed to postpone it to this spring or summer.

The weather was glorious, wonderful for being on the water.  The boat was very comfortable.  We had a bonus of seeing a pod of dolphins on our way to the watery cemetery, which was lovely.  They have a basket that they and the family line with banana leaves, then put in some flowers and petals, add the ashes, and more flowers and petals to fill the basket.  When we reached the zone they let you have a few minutes for final prayers, and when ready the Mate scatters the basket's contents.  The boat circles for a while as you watch the flowers and ashes disperse, and when ready heads back to shore.  The photo at the top is one I took as we circled the scatter area.

They have beverages and some snacks aboard, but we stopped at the Stoked Restaurant, where the Stargazer docks to pick up the families (with parking rights - very kind of them!), and it's a very local place, with definitely commendable food.  If you're in that part of North Carolina, give them a try.

So, it's been an emotional weekend, but we were glad we could give Uncle Ben his final resting place.  Because he was part of NOAA's hurricane-watching crew for most of his career, we thought this would be an appropriate part of the world in which to scatter his ashes.