Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Wholly Matrimony in Port Angeles!

It’s not very often that an event will cause BowlingJoe to not be in attendance at an Al Stewart concert in the Seattle area, but here’s one that even trumped ol’ Al. Last Saturday, our family plus a couple of more crammed into the Toyota Matrix and headed off to the greater Port Angeles area for a wedding. My niece Alysa (daughter of my brother, SteelheadScot) was getting married to Derek from Minnesota. They met some time ago at a Bible School in Oregon called Ecola. And to think that all this time I thought that Ecola was something you get from eating bacteria-tainted spinach.

The crowd settles in for the outdoor wedding
We showed up a little bit after noon. I received a classic Olympic Peninsula greeting when my brother gave me a hug and doused me with some ritualistic beer from the bottle in his right hand as he was doing so. He has such a way of making me feel at home.

SteelheadScot and his lady Sheryl did a stellar job for weeks in preparation of this outdoor, footwear optional event. It all came together, including a glorious 75-degree sunny day. Tents, chairs and tables were in place. The caterers from Bushwacker Restaurant arrived on time and were busy preparing salmon, kabobs and lots of other stuff. Wheelbarrows full of ice, beer and soda started to show up. The hay bales were in place for us to sit down on during the ceremony.

The wedding official, BowlingJoe's dad and
BowlingJoe's stepmom: something that is not likely
to be seen in the same field of vision ever again.
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It was nice to mill around and visit with some family and friends we haven’t seen in a long time, as well as to meet some new people. And what a diverse crowd it was. The variety of folk ranged from the spiked hair/body pierced/tattooed set all the way to Latter Day Saint and everything in between. I was thinking and laughing to myself that this is the only occasion this particular assembly of humanity will appear together on the same piece of property.

After some official photos, it was time for the wedding to start at around 2:15pm. In lieu of providing a running commentary, I’ll simply say that it was a beautiful occasion and things went off without a hitch as far as I could tell. Despite the fact that I’m credited with officiating two weddings (yes, I’m the “Accidental Reverend”) what happens or doesn’t happen during a wedding ceremony still confuses the daylights out of me.

SteelheadScot walks Alysa down the aisle
In the end, however, the only important thing is that it was the day that Alysa and Derek were looking for. I have it on good word that indeed it was. So here’s to a long and happy marriage for you two. But please don’t be in too big of a hurry to start a family. The thought of calling my little brother a grandfather at this juncture of my life is really unsettling.
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Alysa reading vows to Derek: the deal is sealed!

7 comments:

Unknown said...

I always cry at weddings. And the Running of the Bulls.

Anonymous said...

Thanks, bowlingagent. It's nice to know that someone is actually reading these things.

I cry when I see "0 Comments" below my blogs.

New one coming out today or tomorrow.

Captain ILL said...

Don't cry Joe, or you'll get us all started. I'm sure the only reason your post has gone commentless this long is that everyone wanted to give your family first crack at the witticisms.

Anonymous said...

Thanks, Joe. I appreciate the remarks. But it's important to understand that much of my family is from the Olympic Peninsula and are therefore, by definition, functionally illiterate.

At this time I'd like to officially open up the comments on this blog to the world community at large.

Unknown said...

BowlingJoe,
I suspect your Dad and I would get along just fine. I have tried to continue his work and move you along in your personal growth toward conservatism, but it appears we have both failed to find the solution.

However, I am now looking at the root causes and may have a new tack soon.

Anonymous said...

cvow, great to hear from you as always. There's no doubt that you and my dad would hit it off.

The two of you could explore the important questions of these times such as, "can Sarah Palin handle an Italian-made Perazzi 28-gauge shotgun better than Dick Cheney?"

Unknown said...

How true, BowlingJoe. Just remember, Sarah Palin likes to kick ass and shoot caribou...and it ain't caribou season.