So
here it is, my best photo from the wedding, taken while the couple
climbed Sugarloaf Mountain with a retinue of friends, relatives, and
camerapersons. (During the actual ceremony, my camera ran out of
memory, with the spare card at the motel)
It was
a mythic wedding--it had it all. There was 3000 miles of driving
for us parents, half of it with a piano in the van. There were
relatives and friends from around 14 states. My bearded son
who mostly resembles classical images of Jesus wore a tuxedo as best
man. There was a cat as flower girl, and a dog as the ring
bearer. There was drama, when the rings, tied onto the dog's
tuxedo, disappeared on the way down the sandy path to the beach.
There was a long awkward pause as the search went on, and finally
some ribbons were substituted for the rings. This pause allowed
some of our best friends to make it to the wedding, who were confused
as to the time. After the service, with a placid blue sky and
Lake Superior in the background, the rings were located by patient
searching, rather than the metal detector brought in, another triumph
for John Henry versus the machine...
There there
was an afternoon of photos in picturesque spots, and an evening of
entertainment and dancing. My son assembled a touching slide show
of photos of the two from their babyhood, including many of the family
and guests in the photos as well. The music for dancing was
selected from their personal favorites. I even was asked to play
a couple waltzes on the guitar. At times it resembled a Disney
movie (they should secure the rights now) such as the last dance, to
the "Au revoir, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen" song from the Sound of
Music, where they spontaneously pantomimed it, ending with a sleepy
bride laying down to sleep, and Forrest scooping her up and carrying
her off the dance floor...
I hope their honeymoon in the Virgin Islands is as enjoyable...
I
checked in my bird book, and this species is fairly rare in most of the
lower 48 states, but its habitat swoops in a continuous arc from Idaho
up through Canada to the U.P. There were also wild blueberries
common there, which look like our huckleberry plants but the leaves are
slightly narrower. I look forward to seeing the plants and
animals of Europe next week for their similarities and differences as
well...
Meanwhile I'm trying to be productive
with the week I'm here--I threw about 65 pots today, and fired two
bisque kilns. One of our apple trees broke a branch from the
weight of apples on it while we were gone, so I picked the apples and
made applesauce as well.
This time of year I
always wonder when to pick the pears. Pears must be picked before
they are ripe, or the fruit will be very grainy. So I reviewed
previous Sept. blogs to see what I did then, and did a few searches for
info on the web. But in case I check here first next
year--the keys are: starting to turn color, slight softening, stems
break off tree easily, and some of them are dropping on their own.
Then store near freezing for best quality.
