R.I.P. Freyja

No rant today, just a short memorial.

Non-Alaskans may find this, well, weird, but there are certain considerations in the winter when it comes to burying anything. Simply: the ground is frozen and without heavy equipment there's no way to dig a hole. So, if your pet dies in December, you may have to wait until spring to bury him/her. This leads to having your pet in your freezer or shed - and you have to remember to warn people about their presence in the freezer or shed to avoid accidental discovery and/or people freaking out.

Freyja got hit by a car shortly after Christmas this year. Typically, veterinary offices send your pet to be cremated with other animals, which I couldn't bear to have happen, or you pay a great deal for an individual cremation, (which I couldn't afford at the time.)

The solution? We stashed Freyja in the red shed out back at work to wait until the ground thawed. I was worried about temperatures rising over the weekend, so yesterday I went out back and dug down, trying very hard not to cry. I had planned on a little memorial (drink a beer, tell some stories) with my coworkers, but it was just too hard. I buried her with an apple because she had a strange love for them ... to the point that she would steal them when I wasn't looking. Oh, and she also really liked cilantro. She had a habit of nibbling gently on your wrist to get your attention. She had a sly sense of humor and I miss her terribly still.

R.I.P. Freyja.