Send Him To Valhalla!

Over the long weekend Mike and I went back to Kamloops to visit the requisite family and friends. One of the highlights was finally finally giving my dear old hampster, Jude, the viking burial he's been waiting for for over a year. It was about time - my parents had kindly loaned me a small corner of their deep freezer in which to store him. (Yes, I had thought about cryogenics, but it seemed as if the science wouldn't arise quickly enough....)

Being that my father works for the Ministry of Environment, and that it's already fire season in the Interior, my dad joined us for this occasion (and made his own special contributions!), and helped us choose a prime spot for the burial (read: downstream from town, and secluded from bypassers so they can't see us to report us!). A couple of my friends joined me, too! It was a little ridiculous, but It was fun (aside from the part about deceased hampser). Here's the photographic account:

Building the raft. Mike's dad taught me the Boy Scout method for lashing bits of wood together!

It's done!

Strapping Jude to the raft. I kept his shroud on to preserve the good memories.

With Jude and the flame sustainer on the raft, it was top heavy. We found a few more floating logs to help stabilize everything.

Jude in the rushes. Good  bye, little friend!