I read once, (wish i had a link) about a man that was buried under an appeltree. For whatever reason they dug up the coffin years later, only to find that the coffin was empty except for some roots!
Then one person looked closely, and noticed that the many fine roots followed the human bloodcirculation..
The roots had penetrated the body and in the conditions of the soil + bacteria which had dissolved the skeleton, had completely absorbed the body through roots. And ofcourse the roots followed the path of the most nutrients, being our bloodstream. Cool huh?
Boy, wait til I tell my son about that. Actually, though, we will probably all be cremated and our ashes spread on what I hope will become ancestral land (I only bought it a few years ago)in West Virginia. There, the deer roam unimpeaded by fences, and there are oaks, not apple trees.
I buried my beloved dog and then planted an Arbor Vitae on her grave.
She's "in" the tree now.
I wish I could have such a good, sensible, useful burial.
I'll have to opt for ashes for anything comparable.
If I had my druthers, I'd just be left laying up on the ridge somewhere.
Crows gotta eat same as worms....:)
If you ever get to the Smithsonian don't miss the 'soap guy'.
He was a Revolutionary war soldier [if memory serves aright] who buried in limestone soil and all the fat in his body turned to soap.
Grossest thing you'll ever see but amazing nonetheless.