I couldn’t help but write in response to the “Last Rites of Spring” headline (BDN, May 26). In the Washington-Hancock County area, folks don’t have to wait until the spring to bury their loved ones thanks to my stepfather, Everard Hall.

He has mastered the art of hand-digging a grave. He doesn’t let snow and several inches or even feet of frost stop him from following the wishes of loved ones to have their relatives interred as soon as possible.

He has been at this practice for many years and has it down to a science. He can create a hole more even and accurate than a backhoe ever could and, aside from a footprint or two in the snow, you wouldn’t know that he had ever been there when he’s finished.

His grave-digging “art” is sadly fading into obscurity for want of faster methods, which is unfortunate, because I think it lends a very personal touch to the burial process.

Angella Moser

Jonesboro