I was at a funeral today, with the loss of the father of a friend.
And it, being a cold day, it was very cold at the cemetery, a country cemetery. Being a country cemetery, it's surrounded by fields of snow, flat fields, right where the breeze blows unobstructed.
I was looking out across the fields and saw how perfect the snow was, no tracks, no disturbance. We had the freezing rain over a week ago, so that is still a perfect crust on top of the snow, very shiny and slick. The fresh snow that came since then has either blown away, up against a fence, or has settled in the crevices.
The fields being vast, they definitely have room to expand the cemetery, if the landowner would sell them another couple acres. Whoever it is, they probably would.
They had a tent we were gathered in, but it was still very cold. I noticed my ears starting to get brittle, so about halfway through I pulled my hat up. It wasn't that long a time out there. The time was divided in two, the religious ceremony and the military's part.
Seven guys shot their guns three times on command. The flag, which they had mercifully already folded, was presented to the family, they dismissed and we headed to the cars.
In addition to my ears, my old fingers really felt the cold.
It made me think of the bodies under our feet, obviously frozen in place.
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