Got up at 2:30 yesterday morning to Zoom attend Yvonne's cremation ceremony at the Fernwood Funeral Home in Mill Valley. Behind her cardboard casket with flowers at the side and a simple temporary altar on top was a landscaped slope with a stream of white water cascading down over stones. Wendy Johnson presided quite nicely. Chris and Hilary Rand delivered touching statements. There were about thirteen masked people there chanting, keeping their distance - except for couples. I recognized Peter Rudnick by his walk. After that, the people left and the casket was rolled away but the carmera stayed focused on the falling water. A woman whose name I know but forget now recited "Gyate gyate, paragyate, parasam gyate, bodhis svaha!" for an hour while what we once thought of as Yvonne was being cremated. It was a good two hours of sitting, listening, watching. The Zoomers' mics were muted. It went smoothly. Shortly after the chanting ended the camera was returned to the office. On its way there we passed through a few rooms - I recognized a waiting room from the times I've been there. Then the camera was placed in a storage room. Then someone turned it off. Yvonne Rand cuke page
