There have been many a good thing in our lives these days, many a good encounter, many a good person, many a good event, many a good gift, other than not making much money. We are blessed and fortunate. It is a rich and full season, and I recognize it as such; not all of them are, or at least they don’t all feel that way. I’ve had some extra time for reflection and quietness the last couple of days, as I’m to lay low and let heal a very inflamed pelvic ligament, probably the result of too much wedding dancing. Thus, extra time for blogging. What follows is a variety of thoughts and pics from the last few weeks, starting of course with Rachel and Cam’s wedding that took place Saturday.

the big wedding!

Aaaaand, it’s over! After months and months of preparation on the part of many people, most pointedly the bride herself, Rachel’s marriage has taken place to Cameron Peyton Clear, whom we love. They happen to both highly value friendships and keep them alive and vibrant over years’ time, as was evident by their wedding party of twenty people. Friends and family from childhood, school, church, work, and skiing came from everywhere (including folks fresh in from Brazil, east Asia, and Africa) to take part in not only the big day itself, but events before and afterwards. People rode horses, visited the Park, swam in the lakes, barbequed, and sort of had one big vacation together. It was a beautiful show of support and community to get a couple started on their journey.

One cool / hilarious part was that Cameron wanted to be baptized while he was here, thinking it would be him, Rachel, and my dad present. It turned into a 14-car caravan to Glacier Park, each vehicle stuffed to the gills with people so we’d have to pay less entrance fees. We didn’t have a specific destination, but knew we wanted to be somewhere on the shore of Lake McDonald, which is about 10 miles long. We had to find a spot with enough pullout space to accommodate everyone and to coordinate it via cell phones and handheld radios.

I couldn’t take shots of the ceremony itself since I was a bridesmaid, but how’s about I tell you instead? The wedding party lined up five men and five women on each side, the women wearing black dresses of their choosing and holding simple lily bouquets in oranges and pinks. Rachel looked precisely like a princess, albeit more chic. Our dad pastors a Church of God congregation here, and Cameron’s dad pastors a Unitarian congregation in Indiana, so they co-officiated the ceremony. Cam and Rach said traditional vows and then personal ones. As Jason said later, Cam’s vows made the other guys look like kindergartners. They were so sincere and well thought out. Our favorite line was that he would always check out the bumps in the night for Rachel. For her portion of the personal vows, she sang “Answer” by Sarah McLachlan. Then Jason and I sang a Bonnie Prince Billy song while they took communion that says, “I called you back to a place beside me,” sort of a double meaning song, for human-human love and God-human love. My brothers and cousins backed us up on instruments. And whooo boy, the dance floor was hot! We even got my parents out there cutting a rug.

Here are some shots from Holly.

and a few other shots...

Erin's under there straightening something out.

four siblings and three spouses

Me and Jace and the bump

mamas and babies

mama doe and baby fawn

mama orange and baby kumquat

mama plum and baby grapes
mama me and baby ?

horsies

My Pops raises and trains horses to sell or use, specializing in Tennessee Walkers. When we arrived in late spring, there weren't any unbroken colts to work with, but as seems to happen around here, some showed up. A family that bought four Walkers from Dad a few years back (two mares with a colt each) found they weren't riding much and wanted the horses to be back in good care.

So, long story short, Jason has had a chance to break a couple of three year old horses! He has loved working with Harley, seen in the shots below, and he’s just starting in with Dusty Brown, a very shy and small one.

Dad uses the Horse Whisperer and Natural Horsemanship-type training, in which you work gently and in a relaxed state with the horses, teaching them to respond to light and subtle commands. He doesn’t use bits or spurs, and yet these are some of the most responsive horses you’ll ever run across. Also, because he imprints them when they’re young, by touching and petting them a lot, they are personable and almost dog-like in their desire to get close and cuddly with you. Anybody want to buy a Tennessee Walking horse? Awesome. See his website at www.lllwalkers.com. A shameless plug for me old man.

Here’s Dad riding in the July 4th parade in support of a friend of his who’s running for State House position.