weekend recap, memorial day

1. speech day | 2. I made this! | 3. celebration dinner | 4. wedding shoes | 5. gorge church | 6. (7?) gorge wedding | 7. preserving lemons | 8. beach day | 9. I made this! | 10. memorial day blue + red | 11. twilight monday night

I've strayed away from actual recaps on these posts, because: yawn. But there's so much loveliness to share on this particular weekend that you'll have to bear with me. Pleaseandthankyou.

So, for starters: the speech! He did it! Knocked it out of the park, my kid did. He told me just yesterday that when we all stood up for the pledge his heart under his palm was going, "Boom, boom, boom." And still, he didn't betray a moment of nervousness and sounded calm and confident. There are over three hundred kids in that auditorium, plus faculty and staff. It fills up to the point where kids are sitting on the floor, and throughout the day afterwards Cal had 9th graders come up to him to say that they couldn't have done what he did when they were in 8th grade. Afterwards, he got to skip Latin (woot) and show the Lt. Governor and our friend Evans (Norfolk's Commissioner of the Revenue) around his school. He was riding high all day. His friends were impressed, his teachers thought he did a great job, and now it's on the 9th grade speech. September 4th: he's ready.

It was a great weekend, really. I baked, we beached, and it truly feels like summer is here... not just nearly here, but HERE! Oh, pesky school. Cal starts exams this week.

On Saturday, two of Neel's (now former) medical students got married. He was so touched to have been invited to the wedding, really just moved to have been included. The ceremony was held in a beautiful church in the historic Ghent section of our town. The groom was one of ten kids, and his 7 brothers (and one cousin) lined up with him. It was really a sight to behold! All these handsome young men, so accomplished and supportive of each other. The bride was radiant, of course, and the reception (held at the Norfolk Women's Club) was full of fun and life and many personal, intimate touches. My favorite part, by far, was the ceremony. It was a very traditional, very formal (Anglican) ceremony, with much of the service performed by a dear family friend of the groom.

I love weddings. I'm a firm believer in marriage, and my own marriage is very important to me. The homily given by the groom's friend, a fatherly figure who reminded me of my college adviser, was incredibly moving. He talked about traditional vows and how people have shied away from them of late, wanting (wisely) to feel empowered by the words they say. Not wanting to commit to words that they don't mean. The couple we watched wed on Saturday used the traditional vows of the Anglican ceremony, and I was struck as they said them, of all those who have (with hope in their hearts) gone before. A wedding is a moment of unity, and joining of two souls because we are stronger together. And yet, as the groom's friend reminded us in his homily, it's a moment of surrender too. Surrendering to hope and faith, not only in the institution, but in each other. The reverend had promised the groom "not much poetry," but when he quoted T.S. Elliot, I knew Neel was sold! I was too.

“The awful daring of a moment's surrender which an age of prudence can never retract.
by this, and only this, we have existed.”

Such a powerful commentary on marriage. It is daring to surrender. To be willing to take that step and all your next steps hand in hand. We wish them all the best, these friends of Neel (all day long, he kept saying, "You can call me Neel now," to all of the recently former students who kept calling him "doctor!") as they dare to venture forth together.

weekend recap, may 19

Well. We knew it was supposed to rain on Friday, but seriously, people? One of those crazy mornings. As soon as Cal was supposed to leave the house to head over to his carpool, the skies opened (fortunately, his ride drove to our driveway to pick him up!), and then it didn't stop. Neel was staying home a bit to meet with a guy for our bathroom, and we knew pretty sharpish that he was going to be stuck there for awhile. (Mini Cooper + Flooded Street = No Good.)

We alternated between canceling meetings (Neel), making a salad for a lunch I hoped to get to later (me), watching all of the flooding in town on the news (both of us), and watching all the bozos go plowing through our street, thinking their cars could beat the water (both of us). As a weather watcher I follow on Twitter said, "Pro tip: your car is not a boat."

I've talked about our street flooding before. We're lucky. Our home does not require flood insurance, and we sit on a bit of a rise, so that the street floods rather than the houses or even the yards. What we've noticed in the decade+ that we've lived here is that these flood-producing storms happen more regularly (generally the street floods the worst when coupled with a high tide), and that the water is rising higher and lingering longer. We have little ways to monitor the water, and last week's flood was higher than any we've had other than a hurricane. It's no wonder. Six inches of rain fell in three hours. Once we managed to get out of our driveway (when the water north of us had receded a bit), it was still a struggle to get through downtown.

I have to say, it's fun to watch these floods (especially the idiots stalling their cars), but it's not very encouraging. A sinking city and worsening storms don't make a good combination.

By the time I got home that evening, the sun was out and the street was dry.

And you know what? Norfolk is still pretty freaking cool. I slid down to Ghent on Saturday to take some photos for a friend of mine who was catering a wedding, and right out front, in our Hague, looms our giant visitor. I'll admit, I was skeptical, but you know what? That duck is flipping awesome. He's here to celebrate the grand re-opening of our local art museum (closed for over a year for renovations), and droves of people were coming into town to see him. The Norfolk Police were happy and helpful as we located parking, and I anticipate that this won't be the only time we head down for some fun shots.

Sunday, Funday, baseball at the beach. We're almost ready to start the week.