 | |
| Sign on a shop door in Taihape |
It is true, it is freezing here, as the sign on the shop door says, but there is no wind (a welcome relief after Wellington gales) and the sun is shining.
The first thing I did on reaching Taihape was to drive up Dixon Way to the cemetery which is perched on the top of a hill overlooking the Ruahine Ranges. This after all was the reason for my trip, a visit to my parents grave.
It was glorious on the hilltop, as it usually is. Looking out over the snow covered Ruahine Ranges under a bright blue sky I understood my parents never wanting to leave, even when so many friends moved to warmer places to retire. We children fretted for them but they were adamant.
 |
| The view to the Ruahine Ranges |
 |
| Grave: View from above |
All the names on the tombstones were familiar, a reminder of the community that surrounded my parents which they didn't want to leave. I have the same feeling visiting my grandmother's grave in the hills near Hunterville. The names on the tombstones there are names familiar from my mother's stories, although I never knew the people personally.
Nowadays people have their ashes scattered or their remains are buried in places with time limits on the tombs. How transitory we have become.
