Gratitude Sunday: Lovely Day For A Wedding

Gratitude * Sunday
Sunday’s heartfelt tradition.
A time to slow down, to reflect, to be grateful.
A list of gratitudes, our gratefulness feeds one another.
Quoted from Taryn Wilson
Joining the Gratitude Sunday Tradition at Wooly Moss Roots.

Sunday Haiku
Shades of bright yellow
spring, turn your fresh blossom up
open to the sun.

Sunday Musings
We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming because of a family wedding. It was a lovely affair and now 6 of my mother’s 8 grandchildren are married. None are divorced. Win-win so far.

However, though I did very little, it knocked a hole in my “schedule” even as loose as my schedule is these days.

The wedding was Saturday and a lovely day for it. By that I mean in Oregon it rained hard most of the morning. It’s good luck to get married on a rainy day. The wedding was scheduled at 4:00 pm and by 4:30 when they were ready to take photos outdoors there was just enough sun to do so. We were at a McMenamin’s establishment and had access to the outdoor courtyard, but it is still March after all, and a bit too chilly to be outside in our wedding clothes. Especially the bride who had on one of those pretty strapless gowns so half her skin is subject to the elements. Bride was also out of her high heels by 4:30 as well and the cold concrete in the courtyard was too much.

McMenamin brothers in Oregon save historic buildings like old schools that are slated for destruction and turn them into destination sites with rooms for events, bar and food service, and rooms to spend the night so you don’t have to drive after drinking. The wedding party was smart and got rooms. I don’t drink so for me it was a one day event, though I let my younger brother drive me as I’m not so good driving at night these days. Good to spend time with him.

It’s interesting about family. You either like each other or you don’t. And sometimes you can make all the effort in the world to get along and it still doesn’t work out. I’m lucky; we may not be best friends, but we do pretty good. We don’t hate each other, at least.

It was a fun little do, though I would have loved to have the music a little quieter during dinner and visiting time, because it seemed like during the entire event the music was the right loudness for dancing time. Just me.

The bride and groom were gorgeous. They have been friends for many years so they are off to a good start. The whole wedding party looked great. They were all so excited.

And our family’s bride and groom dolls (circa 1950) traveled to the wedding venue to share the evening. These dolls were on my mother’s wedding cake when she married my father. The costumes were handmade by my paternal grandmother. The dolls have been on every wedding dessert table of Mom’s children and grandchildren, every one she could get to. My sister is now keeper of the dolls and responsible for making sure the dolls are at every wedding. What a great way to make sure you get invited to the wedding!

I like my family well enough to enjoy the events. We tire easily, but a few hours together and we are good, sometimes for another year. And then if we wait a whole year, we ask each other why we waited a whole year. Seems pathetic sometimes how busy our lives get and we have a hard time finding time for family.

All this on Daylight Saving Time change weekend! And a full moon as well. Bet they didn’t even look at a calendar when they planned. Now me? I’d be checking those dates and days to avoid cosmic influences like leaping into the future (pun intended as marriage is the big leap) and the full rays of the moon. Not that I’m superstitious or anything.

And did you know women don’t wear hats to weddings anymore? Go ahead. Laugh out loud. I know I’m an old fashioned dork. I thought I looked lovely in my hat. I love wearing hats to weddings. It makes it more official somehow. The hat I wore came from my mother from one of the Christmases we had and she pulled out a pile of hats. As each female came into the room, no matter the age, she had us pick a hat and we wore the hats the rest of the day. It was a fun Christmas and we got to go home with souvenirs not just gifts.

Speaking of souvenirs, our bride and groom made terrariums to decorate tables and guests were invited to appropriate one for home. I chose a low cut profile one. It’s all sedums in the bowl so it will be hard to kill. Smart thinking. It’s a fun reminder sitting in the middle of my kitchen table.

I didn’t find out about a honeymoon, but they just bought a house so maybe they’ll just hide in their new house for a few days of privacy. I wish them all the luck in the world as they start their new life and a lifetime of growing old together.

Color Watch – colorful attractions in my neighborhoods this week – All the colors of crocus; here’s a purple one. The many shades of yellow faces of daffodil. Fine feathery strands of forsythia.

Current View – {These are only my opinions about movies and books, but don’t let me stop you from trying these reviewed items yourself; your opinion may differ.} Truly, Madly, Deeply (1990, rated PG), with Alan Rickman. I waited for more than a year for this old film because the local lending library owns only one copy. Charming twist on the love story, the husband dies, and comes back from the dead to help his widow get on with her life post-husband. (I waited to view the movie to comment on Liane Moriarty’s Truly, Madly, Guilty title I read several weeks ago, and I see no connection whatsoever to this old movie. To date I don’t even know how the title related to her story. Just saying.) * I also waited a long time in queue for The Birth of a Nation (2016, rated R), about the Nat Turner rebellion that took place in 1831. I understand in my mind and heart the ugly treatment people have perpetrated upon people (and still do). I am heartsick at the thought of it. I try not to be an ugly person. I don’t know what I’d do if I were in similar situations. Let me just say I also understand rebellion. No spoilers; though this movie was “fictionalized” I thought it a good representation of the horrors and why they choose to rebel. Not for the faint-hearted, but if I could do so I would make it required viewing in like middle school. History is so important. Recommended.

Currently Reading – Finished The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (2007, fiction) by Junot Díaz. I’m not a good traveler; I have literature to time travel with. When fiction gives me a history lesson I can spend the day in the chair. Power, greed, degradation in the Dominican Republic and how it affected one family, Oscar kept me enthralled for days. Recommended. * But What if We’re Wrong: Thinking About the Present as if it were the Past (2016, contemporary culture) by Chuck Klosterman, the death of football, social media, science, and war are all subject to his contemplation.

This week I have been grateful for:

• My friend’s aunt who I will always remember saying, “You will only regret what you don’t do” when it comes to opportunities and events.
• Traveling safely across town in the Portland metro area in city driving which is different from the little burg I live in. Very fast, aggressive, tailgating, lots of lane switching. I like my slower life.
• Getting to attend my nephew’s wedding when earlier in the week I thought I was catching the plague.
• The day clearing in time for wedding photographs.
• Having something of my mother’s to wear to the wedding. She loved these kinds of events. She made beautiful framed keepsake collages with the wedding invitations and lace doilies for wedding presents.
• Deciding to wear my regular supportive dork shoes, and not worry about “pretty” at the wedding. Who’s looking at my feet, right?
• My crazy Christmas cactus which decided to bloom again this week.
• How my nieces and their husbands are so committed to helping their children have the tools to succeed.
• Spending some time with my brother and helping him with some computer issues. Me, the techno-ditz, helping with computer stuff. Don’t be fooled: it was only how to navigate websites I’ve recently had to use. The websites aren’t terribly user friendly and make you feel stupid if you have difficulty filling out the form, and the navigation isn’t straightforward. I like being helpful, and neither of us are stupid. We do the best we can, learning every day.
• My brother trusting me enough to give me a key to his house.
• My own bed.
• Clean bedding.
• A day warm enough to open the door and the long handed swiffer as the light revealed a cobweb that had to be dispatched.
• Water.

Hoping you have a lovely week.

Namaste. Peace. Blessings.

Floral ribbon border by Laurel Burch