Currently reading a book called Corpse. Which is a great name for a book. Second only to simply Death as a say what you mean, mean what you say title.
Corpse is about pinpointing the time of death in humans through forensic entomology. In other words, the natural stages of wee buggies chompin’ on your dead flesh. It has fun chapter titles like “The Witness Was a Maggot.”
Here is a striking paragraph about the population most likely to decay naturally.
“The typical American goes into the ground injected with three to four gallons of preservatives. But a sizable segment of even our oversanitized culture will always escape quick processing. Prominent among this population: the abandoned and the murdered.”
What the author is saying is: one good way to avoid the chemicals of embalming and oversanitized burial is to be MURDERED AND ABANDONED SOMEWHERE.
Sadly, I often think about myself. Resources for a natural burial are so poor in this country that I wonder if I’ll have to wander off into the damn woods to die where no one can find me. But they’d probably at least try to find me–which would waste everyone’s time and money.
Let’s continue to work on natural burial options. That way “murdered and abandoned” doesn’t become the preferred method of death for those who just want to decay without intervention.