On Grindstone Island, a bevy of cemeteries
Grindstone Island.
NPR’s doing a series, Dead Stop, on interesting cemeteries, and one of them is in NCPR’s back yard: Grindstone Island, which sits squarely in between Clayton, NY and Gananoque, Ontario, in the middle of the St. Lawrence River.
NPR reports that “there are only about 130 households on the island, which has no bridge or ferry service. In the past, wealthy summer residents would leave on their own boats at the end of the season. Many of the poorer residents would have to wait until the water froze over, so they could walk back across to the mainland . . . Perhaps it’s the remoteness of the island, or just the spirit of the place, that has led to a certain laissez-faire attitude to burial habits.”
Apparently the island is dotted with cemeteries, official and otherwise, with graves dating from the Civil War. You can find the full NPR story here.
It makes me think of an NCPR series produced by Angela Evancie two years ago, on Greening the Afterlife. And it also makes me curious — when you die, is there anywhere in particular you want to go?
I’d be buried right out back here…under the garden if they’d allow it. Weve been feeding the worms here for decades, and eating from this garden, so why not return the favor. Feed the soil that feeds us.