Philip was
laid to rest in Gungahlin cemetery on a clear Canberra day with wintry sun
breaking through cloud. The ceremony, simple and dignified, was attended by his
extended family. His coffin, covered in a damask linen cloth with a candle
lantern and ribbon-tied bunch of eucalypt leaves on top, was carried along a
winding gravel path to a grove of eucalypts - E. mannifera and E. meliodora, I
believe. It was a setting which could not have fitted better with Philip’s life’s
work in caring for nature. Doing the honour as pallbearers were his two
daughters, Jocelyn and Lisa, brother Graham, and his two nieces from his and Maureen’s families, Alison
and Carolyn.
A natural
burial aims to return the body to the earth in as natural a way as possible,
with as little environmental damage as possible. It uses a shallow grave and a
biodegradeable coffin. The gravesite is unmarked except by a small plant (of
approved species) but you are given GPS coordinates and a plaque can be placed on
a nearby boulder. We shall do this in a few weeks.
At the
graveside we had a reading selected by Maureen, Loss of a Treasure by Paul Irions, and Jocelyn sang the Gershwin song,
You can’t take That Away from Me. Then the coffin was undressed, lowered slowly into the grave, family strewed
rosemary (for remembrance) and those who wished also cast some soil over it.
There was
time for reflection (and tears) before family came back to Aranda for a lunch
break before the afternoon ceremony.
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