This month, I fulfilled the last of a 3 part dream that began a long time ago when I envisioned getting Beverly out riding a bike. The first of them was to have her ride at the Florida Safari. The second was to ride the New River Trail and the Virgina Creeper trails in Virginia. And last and possibly the most far fetched was to ride the Katy Trail, camping our way across Missouri. Now all of these are done! Bev actually camped in a tent, on the ground, as we made our way. Surprising. I made camp every evening, giving her an easy chair almost as soon as we arrived in camp. She would take her towel and head for the shower truck. Meanwhile I got the tent up and the mattress inflated. Like all our tour events, the people were great. I can't say really great things about the scenery because Missouri is a lot like Alabama. It just looked like home. Our ride took us along a rail trail that was very, very flat but the surrounding area was hilly. The trail was so flat and straight at times it resembled the world's longest dirt road. It covered about 225 miles across the state from East to West. Most folks who had ridden both ways consider the west to east route easier. We'd like to do it again, only west to east this time. But 2009 it falls on my week to work. Of course who knows where we'll be then.
Effigies are used in grieving by providing a tangible representation of what has been lost, allowing a mourner to connect with who or what they've lost , which can help with the process of acceptance and emotional expression, particularly when the loss is sudden or traumatic; they can be used to focus grief and memories around a physical likeness, offering a sense of continued presence even in their absence