A walk through coastal scrub.
Saturday
The Wedding.
It went wonderfully.
Seated in the front row, camera in my lap, I could inconspicuously snap a few shots during the ceremony. There will be real wedding pictures later, but in the meantime, I get to tell the story.
A story of beautiful bridesmaids:
Good looking groomsmen:
And a stirring ceremony:
Alex and Austin were included with an exchange of roses.
And yes, Austin did manage to stomp on almost every one of those rose petals that have so captured his attention.
And finally, we present the happy couple: Mr. and Mrs. Taylor.
At the wedding reception, there were the traditional dances with bride and father, groom and mother. There was also a dance for all the married couples. Then all the couples married less than three hours were asked to step aside. Matt and Lindsay sat down. Less than a year. Less than five years. Ten years. Twenty. Thirty. It was getting thin out there. Our friends the McKees sat down at 42 years. That left Judy and I at 45; the longest married couple in the room. How’s that? Our family got shortest married, longest married, and middle; Becky and Brian married for over 20 years.
Friday part 3
And a rehearsal dinner for 30. At the dinner, Judy handed out cards and envelopes with Matt and Lindsay’s names on them and the date September 3rd, 2021. We requested everyone write a note to Matt and Lindsay for them to read on their 10th anniversary. That request was met with great enthusiasm given how quiet the room got as everyone was scribbling.
The notes have been placed in a locked box. Matt and Lindsay even wrote notes to each other to include in the box. I took a snapshot of every person there for them to see ten years later.
Now, tomorrow is the big day.
Friday part 2
Happy people for the rehearsal:
Friday, part 1
It’s September. We turned the furnace on this morning. We sleep with the air conditioning at 66 degrees. In the morning, we just open up the doors and windows to warm up. Not this morning though. It was only 60 degrees outside. We sat outside in a light breeze wearing sweatshirts for morning coffee. Watched a river of 2,500 grackles fly past. That awesome flow of grackles went right though our camp and over our heads. Bird behavior is different now than in the spring. For some species, the individuals and pairs have all banded together into great flocks. The magpies at Chatfield have flocked up. There is a bald eagle perched in the tree on the island in the pond next to us where the cormorants normally roost. There aren’t any cormorants there today.
Another busy day. Plenty of work to do, but our attention is shifting more to the impending wedding each day. Still working out last minute deficiencies in tux deliveries.
Time for the rehearsal. It’s a wonderful wedding facility:
