Saturday, August 20, 2011

Life in Our World


The first of the week


This past week I flew to St. George, Utah for my niece Eliza's wedding.  My brother and his family recently moved to Utah after living for many, many years in Alaska.  I haven't been around Lee and Krista's kids much so it has been really fun to be around them twice in the last three months -- once for Ty and Michelle's wedding and now for Eliza and Brad's.  


When Tate saw me at the motel he said something to the effect of, "Hey look!  It's that lady that is fun to play Werewolf with."  I'm honored.  Werewolf, witch.  Someday I may need those on a resume.


Lee is four years younger than me, but we were both included in the batch of "the little kids." (We had the "big kids" and the "little kids" in our family.  Did you?  I don't know what the middle children were called; they must have been forgotten.)  Lee's son Owen reminds me so much of him in looks and personality.  I love to watch him.  It's memory lane.  Owen is only missing glasses.  Lee is such a kind father and Owen is kind, too.


I have decided that weddings are sad.  People say they cry because they're happy at weddings, but not me.   I cry because nostalgia seeps out of me.  I cried seeing Brad and Eliza across the alter.  I cried watching Krista watch them. I cried watching the slide show.  I cried during the "I Held Her First" song, I cried watching Lee cry while he was dancing with Eliza.  Thank heavens I'm not a gully-washer cryer, I'm just a sprinkling cryer, but still . . . weddings are saaaaaad if you're prone to nostalgia crying.


But, I cried at Ryan and niece Haley's wedding, too, and that was four years ago and I'm perfectly happy when I'm with them now, so I do recover.  Haley was our chauffeur and Ryan was our bodyguard at the wedding.  They were attentive and fun and I was glad we got to spend time together.


I had the very unique experience of being the first person checked at the airport.  I was first in a race once, but can't remember any other firsts.  I waited here for my flight all by myself for several minutes.  Calvin would have been proud.  Much to the kids' vexation he likes to be two hours early for a flight . . . just in case.  I was plenty early and got several pages read while I waited.

The end of the week


A member of our ward congregation died.  His funeral was this week and Calvin was asked to cook the meat for the dinner after the funeral, while I was asked to play the organ for the funeral.  And since I didn't take a picture of either of us, I'll plug a picture of our bishop (right) and his first counselor (left) at the dinner in instead because it's a good one and they are good men.  The two songs I was to play were supposed to be played "with dignity" and "reverently".  Those two words describe our ward member that passed away.  For several years he couldn't even hear what was being said from the pulpit, but he sat in the center-front half of the chapel with a big smile during the entire meeting anyway.  He was just glad to be in church with his friends and fellow members.  He was a good example and it was nice to help lay him to rest.



Later that evening we celebrated friend Kathy's 50th birthday with a picnic at the park.  Kathy is in the hotel industry and she once told someone on the phone that we were sisters so that we could get a motel in New York for Abe's graduation.  I didn't want to put her in a compromising situation, but I did need her help with getting those tight reservations.  When she said that we were sisters, she mouthed to me, "We are.  You are my sister."  Sisters we are.  I have sat on her most comfortable couch with my feet on her ottoman and her cat crawling on my lap many, many times as I have visit taught her.  I love Kathy and it was fun that she would spend her day with so many of us.

Calvin and I closed the funeral and birthday party day by going to a wedding reception.  The bride and groom are both former students that met in my class.  It's been fun to be a part of their life through the years.

  
Today Calvin and I worked in our tired and neglected garden.  He weeded while I threw the overgrown squash down the canal bank, fed the flowered broccoli to the chickens, and picked the berries.  While Calvin sprayed weeds I made Huckleberry Bread.  Except I didn't have huckleberries, I had giant berries so I made Berry Bread.  The recipe calls for pineapple, but I didn't want to open a can of pineapple for just one cup so I added grated zucchini instead.  I believe Berry Zucchini bread is every bit as good as Huckleberry Bread.

This evening we're going to the rodeo which means I have to dig out my long pants.  Argh.  I don't think I've worn pants since May.  I do love summer shorts.

And that's our week in a nutshell.  What's new in your world?

9 comments:

Jill said...

Wow, you're busy! You've got a lot of big events going on in your world and I love the way you write about them.

Deidra said...

What a week. Last night I felt well enough to work just a bit in our neglected garden, though it doesn't have squash, broccoli or blackberries. It's the saddest garden we've ever had, and the only one we've ever had in our backyard. I blame heat and humidity (with no cool nights) and a baby. The baby is my favorite of the two excuses.

Other than that, it's has been a lot of lounging, nose blowing and coughing. A terrible waste of a good week.

Anonymous said...

Fun to see the wedding I missed and catch up on a few weeks worth of posts. Funny how a new baby in the family puts everything else on the back burner. Sounds like you had a great summer.

Lynn

Kay Scott said...

What a delightful post, Jane. You pack so much living into every day, every week, and then tell about it so wonderfully. I come here often just to be inspired. I chuckled at your vase in that last picture. I have been to all those little towns; that's my neck of the woods. I bet you have had that "milk jug" for some time.

Ruth said...

I love that Lunt's Dairy milk bottle with Lordsburg on it--my home town. I remember Lunt's Dairy well!

Deidra said...

My husband was one of the "little boys" in his family. His older sister and brother were the "big kids". In my family we were just the kids. Having five in seven years does that I guess.
It was fun to see you at the rodeo!

michelle said...

That is one busy week! Two weddings and a funeral would have me emotionally exhausted for sure.

I would love to try some huckleberry bread! Or some berry/zucchini bread. I miss having a garden.

Mary said...

I love that I can read your blog and see my sister's comment. Ruth and I are both from Lordsburg and remember the Lunt family of Lunt's dairy! It was fun to see the milk
bottle because it brings up so many memories.

Susan Walker said...

Beautiful pictures, as always. I just soak up your stories and remember them, Jane.

I have to tell you a funny wedding "crying" story of my own:

5 years ago, my ex-husband, my son Chad's father, remarried. He asked my husband, me and our daughter to sit on his side in the front pew as "family." (Our son was Best Man.) What an honor, right? His wife made my husband a boutonniere and me a corsage. We were included in "family" photos. It was amazing.

However, during the slide show, I couldn't help but be a little horrified at the song that accompanied it: "God Bless the Broken Road." As I watched my ex's childhood pictures being flashed in front of me, I paid close attention to the lyrics:

Every long lost dream led me to where you are
Others who broke my heart
they were like Northern stars
Pointing me on my way
into your loving arms
This much I know is true
That God blessed the broken road
That led me straight to you

I told him later I was so sorry for being "The Broken Road!" Oddly, I suddenly felt solely responsible for the demise of marriage and the fact that he'd experienced heartbreak. (Ego maniac much?!) I was so sad.

He laughed, of course, and said it really wasn't about ME. IMAGINE THAT! (And then he probably thanked God one more time for his new, lovely wife, Wendy.)

:)