There Was a Wedding - Part 6 - Photographs on the Lawn

Remember the snow? Remember the sloppy slush we drove through on the way to signing the papers to buy a house? Remember the coats and scarves of a Friday evening's rehearsal? Remember how we all talked around the weather, as if acknowledging the cold and the wind and the rain would, somehow, keep it through the next day?

The country club has a gazebo a short distance from the front door. It's perfect for photos. This is what we had on Saturday, March 21st at 5:30 p.m, the first full day of spring.

It was 70 degrees, clear blue skies and a very light breeze. We could not have asked for a better evening. The only issue was the sun.

They had one of the ushers, the gentleman who walked me in, who is quite tall, hold his coat up off to the right in order to keep the sun out of people's eyes. You can see him off to the right here.

Larry's attendants were Matt and a guy whose name I have forgotten, who were high school friends. His groomsman was Chad. The two have known each other since kindergarten. Carole's attendants were Phil, a high school friend; Sandy, Larry's sister, and Andrea, Chad's wife. Chad and Andrea live next door to Larry's parents, to complete the connection. I have to say that the stability of friendship is something that wasn't apparent in the first wedding. The groomsmen, at that time, were friends of Carole, rather than lifelong friends of the groom. That says something.

Here are both families. To the left is Carole's dad and his wife. To the right are Larry's parents and, on the far right, Sandy's fiancee.

It wouldn't be a Star Wars wedding without light sabers. First with the groomsmen and ushers,

and then with Carole and Phil.

If you look at the photo of Chad and Larry dueling, you can see Larry is the shortest of his friends, and the ushers, who were also long-time friends of Larry's.

Beverage:  Fruit Juice

Deb

Seen

I saw this on Monday leaving work.

So close to tic tac toe in the sky.

Beverage:  Hot cocoa

Deb

End of the Day.

Winter is meteorologically over. It ended yesterday. Spring is officially here. It was 45 today. March is coming in like a lamb. I best not put the snow shovels in the basement until April.

Beverage:  English Breakfast tea

Deb

Only a couple more hours

and the sun will be up. The above photo was taken in 2007 in Columbus, Indiana where I was attending a Highland Games for my clan.

It's just after 2 a.m. and I'm finally feeling tired enough to sleep. I didn't get up until 8:30 but I've been going all day without feeling tired enough to take the body to sleep. I don't have to go anywhere when I finally do get up except the cats will want me to feed them in roughly 4 hours.

I love sunrises and sunsets. I knew this guy from Florida, Bradenton, to be exact. As part of the pseudo-romantic talk some guys indulge in, he promised that "some day", we'd start our morning with croissants, juice and strawberries on the beach watching the sun come up and then drive across the state to have hamburgers, french fries and beer while watching the sun set. Nope, never happened.

My dad was an early riser. He would wake me up in the summer to go for walks into the fields. I remember following him as he plowed through the alfalfa drenched with morning dew. Spittle bugs made their homes in the alfalfa and dad would catch them and the dew, getting his pants soaked but making it sort of easy for me to walk.

Often times, we'd stumble into a deer rut, where the deer were either just leaving or had just left. The deer would come into the alfalfa field at night to sleep instead of sleeping in the woods. It would smash down the alfalfa but the stuff would spring back fairly quickly in a summer day.

What I remember most is the intense musky smell of deer. That is definately an animal smell which could be compounded by dew-laden grass. If we had a ground fog, that would trap the smell. It's not like anything I can describe for you. You know it if you've smelled it.

So what am I doing up blogging at now 2:20 a.m. I don't really know other than I wasn't tired earlier. I miss having someone to wake up with and go to watch the sun rise or set. It's quiet outside tonight and I know I will sleep soundly. I also know, there are days when I'd give my eye teeth to have someone poke me and whisper, "Come on. The sun isn't going to wait for you to get there to watch."

Beverage: Coca-Cola

Deb