GoFundMe funerals. You’ve probably heard of them. Suddenly, on the motorway, a mother and her two toddlers are killed in an accident. The mother happens to be “too poor to die,” so her Christian church rallies to pay funeral expenses in excess of $20K. One member mounts a GoFundMe campaign that makes the rounds on […]
So that our love may blossom
December 5, 2016
I always listen to this one special song in December, and I catch a weep. Listen below, and you’ll catch some monastic wisdom. If you’re just joining us, we are Piedmont Pine Coffins. In our death work and off-grid farmstead life here in central North Carolina, US of A, we take inspiration from monks and […]
What’s a Weep, and why I wish you one
October 13, 2016
Do you ever catch a Weep? I caught a Weep this morning from a memory 35 years old. The Spirit moves over the face of the waters, and these days maybe via blogs and Facebook too, so permit me to explain. But first, for the many new readers: This is Don from Piedmont Pine Coffins, […]
Countercultural coffins and urns
September 19, 2016
In a radio interview I did recently, here are words that came out of my mouth: We always wanted to be countercultural — in an ADMIRABLE way. Revelatory. Never knew I thought that till that moment. Really, the things a soul will pronounce on when you’re distracted by wires and microphones. I was referring to the […]
Decline and fall of the Romaine Empire
September 8, 2016
At Melleray Farmstead, cottage-industrial home to Piedmont Pine Coffins, there’s a big garden with a deer-proof fence. Go to market with lettuce? Yes, please, that’s the dream. But that was before the decline and fall of my romaine empire. For new readers just joining in, we operate on 32 pleasant acres of fields and woods […]
The outhouse joke
June 15, 2016
The outhouse joke. Recently, when coffinworks visitors Marshall and Donald toured our place, it called to mind their growing-up years on a dairy farm in Iredell County and the following outhouse story: My father had an outhouse with two seats. One day one of the hired hands went down to use it. Well he was […]