Wal-Mart Caskets And Other Halloween Reflections

Spending Halloween at the beach is always nice because you don’t see any trick-or-treaters and you can just reflect on life -- or in this case, the after-life.

Which is exactly what I’m doing right now, my thoughts drifting from skittering snowy plovers to how Wal-Mart is selling beyond the grave.

If you go to Wal-Mart’s website, you’ll see caskets and urns for sale – a move it quietly made just last week. Harlequin Cat doubts the retail chain will ever promote its caskets inside its national sales flyers, so if you want a proper viewing of say, the “Lovely In All Ways” stainless steel casket, you have to visit the site.

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. Other retailers have stepped outside their traditional boundaries. Winn-Dixie just announced it’s selling health insurance in Florida. And don’t forget that Sears used to sell mail-order houses and motorized buggies.

I’m glad federal law requires funeral homes to accept third-party caskets. I’d just rather be thinking about candy corn and snowy plovers right now.

Overcoming My Chlorophyll Addiction.

I knew I needed help when I started eating cornhusks. Organic wheat grass no longer satisfied my cravings and I began devouring anything I thought contained chlorophyll. A dropped piece of lettuce. Greenery from flower arrangements. Even a green vinyl binder – an act I’m particularly ashamed of.

I’ve tried to focus on posting a blog entry today, but I can’t. No way can I write about anything civil right now.

It’s been three hours and 28 minutes since I’ve tasted chlorophyll.

My Sarasota Magazine with the glossy green cover is starting to look more appetizing than ever -- in fact, downright tantalizing.

I need an intervention in the worst way.

For some reason, I think I’ll be getting one.

No Time For Confusion.

I just read an ad about a watch. At least I think it was watch. The copy didn’t have the word “watch” anywhere. Instead, it used phrases like a “stunning presence on the wrist,” “an authentic luxury gem” and a “benchmark of quintessential design.”

Thank goodness the ad agency's art director included a photo of this “instrument for the professional” -- this “fine mechanism born to accomplish great feats.”

My gracious, the voice of the ad spoke with such civility!

Poetry in self-winding motion.

All I could think was that the w _ _ _ h sure must cost a bunch.

Oh, need the time? Just a sec while I look at the stunning presence on my wrist.

Indulge My Water-Cooler Talk.

When 40 women share 40 stories in one new eBook to inspire female entrepreneurs and businesswomen, it’s almost as pleasurable as watching cedar waxwings gather around a birdbath and chirp about the batch of berries they just inhaled.

So you have to go check it out: www.thepersonalityproject.com/wop2/

Forty stories, forty women, one eBook. Don’t ask me to tell you which story is my favorite - there are too many of them.

Live Life Soft...And Slow...And Sweet.

A dear friend of mine passed away after battling cancer for nine years. She left me with these words:

“We just don’t take the time to see things. The time and joy of sitting on the patio and watching drops of dew form on leaves is one of the most complete joys in the world. It’s all about taking the time to breathe in.”

She also reminded me to look at the sky, to listen to the quiet and to take part in all the dances.

I will, Suzy.