A Stop At Four Corners Monument

Above, the Four Corners Monument. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The trip is now over and I am back home.

I took a different route from Monument Valley. It was a bit longer, but it allowed me to stop at Four Corners Monument and then directly to Gallup, New Mexico so I could pick up my meds at the pharmacy.

Above, the approach to Four Corners Monument. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The Four Corners Monument (I guess it is called "National Monument" in some places) but it appears to be run by the Navajo tribe. It cost $8.00 per person for admission.

The monument is a lot more elaborate than it was when I went there back in the 1980s. The last time I was there was in 1985.

Above, the monument. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The monument is surrounded on all sides by vendor stalls. The vendors are Navajo tribal members selling jewelry, t-shirts, artworks and other things. 

Above, vendor stalls at left and background. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The monument marks the sport where four state corners meet: Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah. I heard that the monument's location is not accurate. 

According to Wikipedia:

Misplacement controversy

Since the early 20th century, controversies have arisen regarding the accuracy of the monument's placement. After the initial surveys, it was found that the borders did not always follow the lines of meridian and parallel (as had been intended) due to the primitive surveying technology available at the time. This discrepancy left the four states asking if the correct borders were the exact lines of meridian and parallel (and if new, more accurate, surveys needed to be done), or if the markers placed during the initial surveys were now the actual border.

New Mexico sued Colorado in 1919, and when the Supreme Court in 1925 ruled that the markers placed during the initial surveys were the actual borders, even if the markers were off in some locations (this includes the Four Corners Monument), the issue was resolved. Today's legal description of these border lines is based on the original markers, and not the written description of the borders created when the territories were formed. Because of this, the borders between these states are not perfectly straight and often zigzag.

One example is the border between Colorado and Utah, where in one area the border jogs west about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from where it was intended to be placed by the written description (i.e. the 32nd meridian west from Washington – 38°16′34″N 109°03′38″W). Because of the Supreme Court decision, the border set out by the markers remains the border between the two states.

This issue resurfaced briefly in 2009 with U.S. media reports that the monument was placed 2.5 miles (4.0 km) west of its intended location. This was soon found to be the result of a mistaken assumption: that the Prime Meridian, used in the United States since 1912, was used. In actuality, the 19th century surveys used the previous Washington meridian. A spokesperson for the U.S. National Geodetic Survey (USNGS) has stated that the USNGS has determined that the modern monument is located roughly 1,800 feet (550 m) east of where the Four Corners marker had originally been intended to be located by the US Congress in 1863. The spokesperson, however, reiterated that the 1875 survey was accepted by all states and therefore its markers, including the Four Corners Monument, are legally binding. Similar statements were issued by the Navajo Nation, defending their work in maintaining and promoting the monument.

Above, a plaque at the Four Corners Monument. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

I guess that settled the matter.  

If anyone has in mind to scatter cremated remains at this or at other Tribal Park land, there is a sign at the monument calling cremation a "malicious desecration" in Navajo cultural belief. You've been warned!

Above, the sign forbidding scattering cremains on tribal lands. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Delaware Democrats For Composting Human Remains

The state that brought us Joe Biden is now considering a bill for the composting of human remains. That state being Delaware.

Some states already allow this practice (California being one of them).

From The Federalist blog:

A bill to allow composting of human bodies as an alternative to burial or cremation received overwhelming approval in the Delaware state House on Tuesday.

The measure passed the House on a 37-2 vote and now goes to the Senate. It authorizes a practice called “natural organic reduction,” often referred to as “human composting.”

Chief sponsor Rep. Sean Lynn, a Dover Democrat, called the practice a “gentle, respectful, environmentally friendly death care option.”

As the article mentions, maybe Soylent Green is next?

To read more, go here. 

Cremation: Going Out With A Bang

Above, my aunt's urn was one of the nicest ones I've seen. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

While perusing for any current news on the ammunition shortage, I stumbled on an article at the Daily Herald on different ways ashes (cremains) of the departed can be dealt with.

While most were more traditional, such as scattering at sea, burial, or kept at home, there was one that I found rather especially amusing (there's another: turning cremains into a vinyl record).

The article began with:

There’s no shortage of options when it comes to handling or disposing of your cremated remains after you’re gone. Your family can keep, bury or scatter them in a variety of imaginative ways that reflect your life and personality. Here are some different options to consider.

Here's the one I found most amusing:

Go out with a bang: If you’re a hunter or a gun lover, a company called Holy Smoke will create loaded ammunition out of cremated remains. Your family could store the ammo in the engraved wooden box it comes in, or they can send you off in a gun salute.

To see more, go here. 

Pet Angels: Is It Jax or Not?

Above, Jax Jacobs.

The following video reminds me of when I worked for United Pacific/Reliance Insurance Companies back 40 years ago.

Some of the company's insureds were cemeteries, mortuaries and crematoriums. There was a spell in which liability claims were coming of missing cremains, co-mingled cremains and other claims involving cremains. If screw-ups like this can be done with human cremains, it can also happen with pets.

The topic of the video by Eric Jacobs, the Nomadic Fanatic, concerns the cremains of Jacobs's late cat Jax.

When he received the package from Pet Angels, a pet cremation company, Jacobs noticed something amiss. The card with Jax's paw print seemed to be from another cat. In the video, at one point Jacobs held up the paw print image to the camera, I noticed immediately that the print couldn't have been Jax's.

The paw print Jacobs received had four toes. Jax was a rarity, he had seven toes on both front paws as a polydactyl cat.

Now, it could be the technician who made the paw print may have missed the extra toes. There's no way of knowing. Also, this leaves doubt in Jacobs's mind whether the cremains in the urn are actually Jax's (Jacobs paid for a private, single cremation) and the lock(s) of fur that were sent with the urn were Jax's.

Understandably, Jacobs is quite upset with Pet Angels.

On the fur, a DNA test can be done on the fur sent with fur on Jax's brush or veterinary blood samples. Pet Angels should be willing to pick up the cost of a DNA test to prove they were on the up & up.

Still, this boils down to the big question: Is everything actually Jax's or not? Pet Angels definitely has a major public relations problem over this.

Here's Eric Jacobs's video:

Gabby Petito's Ashes Scattered At Grand Teton National Park

Above, the Grand Tetons from Jackson Lake. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

It appears that Gabby Petito's ashes were scattered in the Jenny Lake area of Grand Teton National Park.

Her father posted a Tweet last week indicating the did so after retrieving them.

iHeart.com posted:

Gabby Petito's ashes appear to have been scattered at Grand Teton National Park, a stop on her cross-country trip with fiancée Brian Laundrie -- a person of interest in her death -- according to a social media post shared by her father.

Joseph Petito posted an image showing Jenny Lake in the foreground and mountain peaks behind it at the Wyoming national park on Friday (October 15) with the caption, "I now know why you came here. #gabbypetito has a beautiful view from now on. Love you, and miss you."

A family representative told Wednesday NBC News (October 13) that Gabby's parents traveled from New York to Wyoming to collect their 22-year-old daughter's remains one day after a local coroner announced her death was caused by "manual strangulation."

Scattering of ashes at Grand Teton National Park is allowed, but one must get a permit first. An application must be submitted at least two weeks before the planned scattering. There is no fee involved.

To read more, go here.

Shake 'n Bake: Japanese Man Dumps Wife's Ashes Down Toilet At Market

Above, a Japanese cremation urn.

This story caught my attention.

News On Japan posted:

A Japanese man turned himself in to authorities after trying to flush the ashes of his "hated" dead wife down a supermarket toilet, reports and police said on Sunday. 

The 68-year-old man told police he dumped his wife's ashes into the toilet bowl at a supermarket in Tokyo's Nerima Ward immediately after she was cremated last month.

- See more at: http://newsonjapan.com/html/newsdesk/article/112640.php#sthash.6sqJuEBa.dpuf