Every once in a blue moon, my long time friend, the honorable 'Ms. Anna' flies down from Washington state. This week she came down and invited me to the wedding of her brother Wally and his bride Carolee. The pair had something of a whirlwind romance and decided to take that eventful trip down the aisle. The wedding was intimate and full of love from various family & friends. The Reverend was a hoot - a genuine, fire and brimstone, preachifying preacher of the sort normally only come across in Lil' Abner strips. I never did heard sech speechifying a'fore and he really made you feel like something as special as yer hen laying striped eggs, was taking place. However, my favorite bit of the wedding was the ring barer - 4 or 5 years old - lay on the floor, twiddling the ring-pillow, for most of the ceremony.
After the wedding the group made its way to a Roseville Cattleman's restaurant for the reception. That was nice, as Anna put it, that the guests didn't have to do any of the work. That brought us to think of a family wedding of Anna's that I attended decades ago. At the reception, Anna was in a community center kitchen with her aunts and sisters, preparing and serving meals for several hundred people. Anna came over to me that day, while I was wolfing down a previously unidentified speciality.
"Do you know what you're eating?" Anna looked quizically at me.
"Uh no," I said, I gulping down a delish mouthful,
"That's blood pudding."
"This is my second helping," I said sheepishly, "I guess it's too late to pretend I'm appalled."
Anyway, this wedding too was a lovely way to spend an afternoon - visiting with a good friend during one of her family's happiest occasions. Always great seeing 'Ms Anna', yaking about the old adventures and making up a new few ones to boot.
