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[OM] A New Twist on ... [was A New Twist on Weddings]

Subject: [OM] A New Twist on ... [was A New Twist on Weddings]
From: Moose <olymoose@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: Fri, 04 Nov 2011 13:50:17 -0700
Well, we are back home. Got home at about midnight Tuesday. Wednesday was 
reorientation, a month's mail, etc. and 
yesterday was a reunion gathering of family of choice.

This thread seems like a good hint that it's time to 'fess up. I didn't tell 
about this before because we wanted to tell 
in person the list members we were to visit last month.

As I posted briefly before, we went to Montana for a week in late Sep. to 
participate in the ordination ceremony of our 
friend Julia as a Unitarian Universalist minister.

What I didn't say is that after being ordained on Sunday, Julia's first 
official act in her new position was to marry 
Carol and I under beautiful trees, just off the Trail of the Cedars on the bank 
of Avalanche Creek in Glacier National Park.

In our ten+ wonderful years living together, Carol and I have occasionally 
talked about whether we felt like we should 
be formally married. Until early this year, the answer was always on the order 
of "No, why mess with a good thing?" 
We've both been married before, and knew all too well how easy it is with 
marriage to unconsciously take on attitudes 
and ideas of behavior about how one, and one's spouse, 'should' be - and indeed 
mess up a good thing.

Things changed early this year, and we agreed that we would now rather like to 
be married. Then the questions were 
primarily how and secondarily when. We've both had big weddings and wanted 
nothing to do with that again. We have family 
and friends who live mostly on opposite coasts, with a few sprinkled about 
between, and didn't want any of them to feel 
obligated to attend a far away wedding or feel left out if they couldn't.

And really, it seemed such a personal thing that a big to do wouldn't feel 
right. When Julia's ordination date was set, 
we asked her if she would like her first official act to be our wedding. She 
was delighted and excited. And we eloped, 
not even telling family what we were doing.

It was a magical experience, from the unconventional wedding dress that showed 
up almost for free before we had even set 
up a plan, through the weather forecast of clouds and showers on our day - 
which dawned and stayed clear and warmer than 
predicted - through the appearance of new friends to bring our wedding party up 
to six, half ministers, and many other 
occurrences of synchronicity.

We told local family on our brief return. Then we spent our de facto honeymoon 
in New England telling family and friends 
as we met them along our way. Mike & Marnie and Bob & Joan have heard it all in 
much more detail. :-)   And now you, the 
rest of my, as Bob calls those of us whom he has yet to meet, 'imaginary 
friends', know about it too.

And about wedding pictures ... I was the only photographer present, and I have 
my life priorities straight, so I wasn't 
going to distract myself and Carol from the magic with photo stuff. The setting 
we chose, while perfect for the 
ceremony, was appallingly bad for photography. I did set up a camera on tripod 
with the simple IR remote release, which 
didn't seem to be working properly (probably the size of the hood on the 10-22 
lens and location of IR receiver ). As I 
started to think about putting the radio remote on, I was reminded of the 
actual point, and gave it up.

The fourth in our party, another friend who was there from the Bay Area to sing 
in the ordination ceremony, took the 
remote and managed a couple of shots with the 60D and several with his iPhone, 
while still managing to sing to us in his 
beautiful Irish tenor and give us a second minister's blessing. I'll be posting 
some of those soon. In the meantime, 
imagine a moose getting married in the woods. :-)

Happily Married Moose


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