Wedding Day of Leave
Sep. 30th, 2023 09:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ismoWe have now completed the task for which we came here: to attend and celebrate the wedding of Baby Doc's younger son! This wedding has been such a grand affair that it must have been a tremendous amount of heavy lifting for those doing all the prep. That didn't include us. We were just here for the ride. The bride is like our Tron and has many girl friends, not to mention a large family. So they had already planned everything without need for our assistance. Sometimes it's nice to be old.
This morning we had bagels for breakfast on the patio of the bagel place in a shopping plaza that we could walk to. Smoked trout on a bagel with a terrific view of the mountain! I don't know how people manage to just go about their daily lives here I'd be stopping to stare continually. Then we drove to the place where the reception was to take place, to make sure we knew how to get there. It's on the Yampa River Trail, so we walked down the trail until we were back in town. We saw (and smelled) some of the hot sulphur springs for which Steamboat Springs is named. One vista after another, trees shivering in the wind. I took off my shoes and waded in the river a little bit. We visited the library, which is adjacent to the trail, and has lovely views from the children's room. Then we went home, had a nap, and got dressed in our duds. I remembered to put my normal shoes and socks into a bag. . . .
We walked into the Botanic Garden via the alley of sunshine-yellow cottonwoods, and found our way to the lawn where the wedding was set up. It's adjacent to a beautiful little lake reflecting the trees, and from the lawn, there's a sweeping view of the mountain. The sun was pouring down like hot gold. Soon a panoply of beautiful young people arrived and took their places up front. The bouquets were sunflowers and daisies. Fritz gave a funny and touching talk that he had spent months working over, and presided over the vows. Apparently he could do that, because the couple had signed their civil marriage papers earlier in the day, so technically, he wasn't officiating the marriage. I teared up at one point because it reminded me of my kids' weddings. So many memories! Then there was the usual dallying for photos. By the time we were done, my feet hurt so much that I took my shoes off and walked barefoot in the grass back to the car. No matter how much fancier they look, good shoes are hell. I should know better than ever to try it!
The Sparrowhawk needed to sit down, and I suggested that rather than going back to the condo, we could go straight to the reception venue, park, and go across the street to the library until reception time. I put the final seal on my eccentricity by adding my sneakers and woolly socks to my lovely outfit. The library is an adorable place with every convenience, including comfy chairs and friendly staff. We got big drinks of water and sat and sampled some interesting books while we waited. Honestly, this would have been a nice completion to our day, but we valiantly pried ourselves out of the library and went to have drinks and chat with zillions of people. Unlike the library, this venue was rather lacking in comfy places to sit, and standing around is one of the hardest things for the Sparrowhawk. As is navigating crowds and tight squeezes. So we didn't mingle as much as we might have. We drank mostly water, and more and more water! Dinner was salad and pizza baked in a wood-fired oven out in the parking lot. Our table companions were enjoyable. There were speeches and dances and all the usual events of a wedding reception. Then they turned off the lights and turned up the music so the young'uns could dance, which they did with great enthusiasm. We stuck it out for a respectable time. The Sparrowhawk enjoyed talking to his brothers at intervals, when the noise level permitted. And now we are back in the condo, nursing our sore feet in my case, with a virtuous feeling of Mission Accomplished!
This morning we had bagels for breakfast on the patio of the bagel place in a shopping plaza that we could walk to. Smoked trout on a bagel with a terrific view of the mountain! I don't know how people manage to just go about their daily lives here I'd be stopping to stare continually. Then we drove to the place where the reception was to take place, to make sure we knew how to get there. It's on the Yampa River Trail, so we walked down the trail until we were back in town. We saw (and smelled) some of the hot sulphur springs for which Steamboat Springs is named. One vista after another, trees shivering in the wind. I took off my shoes and waded in the river a little bit. We visited the library, which is adjacent to the trail, and has lovely views from the children's room. Then we went home, had a nap, and got dressed in our duds. I remembered to put my normal shoes and socks into a bag. . . .
We walked into the Botanic Garden via the alley of sunshine-yellow cottonwoods, and found our way to the lawn where the wedding was set up. It's adjacent to a beautiful little lake reflecting the trees, and from the lawn, there's a sweeping view of the mountain. The sun was pouring down like hot gold. Soon a panoply of beautiful young people arrived and took their places up front. The bouquets were sunflowers and daisies. Fritz gave a funny and touching talk that he had spent months working over, and presided over the vows. Apparently he could do that, because the couple had signed their civil marriage papers earlier in the day, so technically, he wasn't officiating the marriage. I teared up at one point because it reminded me of my kids' weddings. So many memories! Then there was the usual dallying for photos. By the time we were done, my feet hurt so much that I took my shoes off and walked barefoot in the grass back to the car. No matter how much fancier they look, good shoes are hell. I should know better than ever to try it!
The Sparrowhawk needed to sit down, and I suggested that rather than going back to the condo, we could go straight to the reception venue, park, and go across the street to the library until reception time. I put the final seal on my eccentricity by adding my sneakers and woolly socks to my lovely outfit. The library is an adorable place with every convenience, including comfy chairs and friendly staff. We got big drinks of water and sat and sampled some interesting books while we waited. Honestly, this would have been a nice completion to our day, but we valiantly pried ourselves out of the library and went to have drinks and chat with zillions of people. Unlike the library, this venue was rather lacking in comfy places to sit, and standing around is one of the hardest things for the Sparrowhawk. As is navigating crowds and tight squeezes. So we didn't mingle as much as we might have. We drank mostly water, and more and more water! Dinner was salad and pizza baked in a wood-fired oven out in the parking lot. Our table companions were enjoyable. There were speeches and dances and all the usual events of a wedding reception. Then they turned off the lights and turned up the music so the young'uns could dance, which they did with great enthusiasm. We stuck it out for a respectable time. The Sparrowhawk enjoyed talking to his brothers at intervals, when the noise level permitted. And now we are back in the condo, nursing our sore feet in my case, with a virtuous feeling of Mission Accomplished!
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Date: 2023-10-02 01:27 pm (UTC)At my youngest niece's wedding, I never took off my black Converse oxfords - it rained pretty hard. Anyway, Ruth wore sparkly white Keds under her gown.