The Gerwitz Memorial Grove

Two weeks ago I went on a Sierra Club “hike” through Belfontaine cemetery. One can’t help but consider what kind of physical legacy when encountering the beautiful Judge monument and Busch memorial.

Tonight over dinner I decided that, although I intend my body to be recycled, I think I want some little plot of the planet dedicated to my memory. At least for a historic blip. Sequoiadendron giganteum live for millennia, that should be long enough. If we can maintain lawns in Phoenix, certainly we can grow a few trees in my Ozark hometown.

Now, I just need to endow an arborist foundation and buy some suitable land in the city. Sure, the trees will only get half as tall, but that should be enough to elicit reflection on the impermanence of human life.