Wedding Trip — Friday/Saturday
Thanks to my mother's helping hands (she foresaw the need for clothes washing before I even got home on Thursday), I made it to the Goertzens' not very long after our planned departure time of 9 pm. "Here's my late self," said I to John G. He glanced at his watch and didn't seem to think that description matched me.
I put my backpack in the back of the van, and took a small bag containing my black dress shoes to the passenger area. "Wow, you really did pack light," Johanna G joked (I had previously informed then of plans to pack lightly).
First leg of the air journey: A lovely little red eye flight (12:30 am departure time) to Houston. Ever been there? I hadn't. It was definitely "southern" — the airport even had a row of special chairs for shoe shining. I jokingly mentioned to LG that I could get my (white) sneakers polished. Little did I realize how necessary that almost was.
Second leg: Morning flight to Baltimore. I sat next to a Houston lady who helped with the refugees in the Astrodome. She said her church (Jehovah's Witness) pitched in to help with refugees — one family housed about 50 people! Pretty impressive.
Perhaps we had already arrived in Baltimore, when I realized my small bag was no longer with us. I had left it reposing in the overhead compartment and hadn't given it a second thought until many miles separated us. "I can't wear white shoes to the wedding," thought I to myself (beside being sneakers and being white, they were decidedly less than new in appearance). "I could go in just my socks," I stated. "You could spray paint your socks," said Gordon G. "They're already black — they wouldn't need that," said I. Hey, some people dance without shoes on (i.e. at a sock hop) — but then, mixed group, unmarried-people dancing isn't something I approve of, so that's no support to the shoe-less idea.
We rented a van and headed for Belleville, PA, stopping at an Anabaptist clothing, etc store on the way. I looked for shoes, found nothing very desirable, and ended up wearing Johanna's to the wedding. All was well that ended well.
Derelle M (who was also along) and I went to Fred King's for supper. It was there that I began to form a general opinion of the Big Valley (that's where Belleville is) girls. They're outgoing and genuinely friendly. There's nothing standoffish or snooty about them (I'm speaking generally here — which leaves room for exceptional (ly bad) individuals). They acted like they REALLY wanted to know me, they didn't hide mumly in a corner, and they smiled nicely. There must be something in the water, or in the families, of Big Valley. Maybe that's why fellows from my church regard belles from Belleville as rather desirable (one's married off to such a girl, another is engaged to such a girl).
Mr. King is a dairyman, so I asked him what they use vets for in that valley. I've wondered if there is little place for farm animal vets these days, but it appears they make good use of them around there. Displaced abomasums seemed to be a big deal.
DM and I stayed at Esther Sharp's place along with LT and CS (LT was only there Friday night). We had some good discussions (headcoverings, split skirts, ?) but also got a reasonable amount of sleep.
If you want an interesting wedding sermon, ask for Urie Sharp. He preached B & L's.
I served tables with my brother (hopefully he didn't mind being stuck with me — I personally think that was better than being paired with some guy I was unattached to. It could make us feel like a couple when we shouldn't. And, besides, I had more fun with my brother than I would have had with a mostly unknown guy). J Smucker's daughter was there with her family, and it so happens that Matt and I served their table. That was the third time I've seen them this summer, but the occasion is always welcome.
I won't say that we performed flawlessly, but we got the people fed, no one yelled at us, and I didn't dump corn on anyone's lap.
I went forward during the open mike session — first time I've ever done that. It's not like I had anything very earth shattering to say, but I felt like it and didn't have any pressing reason not to. That demonstrated lack of inhibition/enjoyment of speaking in front of groups may serve me ill one of these days...
There are some die-hard volleyball players in Belleville — they had games going from ~6 pm to 10 or 11 pm in the Locust Grove Mennonite Church (part of the Mennonite General Conference, perhaps?) gym. Matt and I quit early (I was rather out of it and having trouble focusing (that's probably not that out of the ordinary for me at volleyball, but it was worsened by my lack of sleep)), went downstairs, and played a piano for a while.
***
When people say "Last but not least," it implies that one of the other people was the least. Isn't that sort of mean?
I put my backpack in the back of the van, and took a small bag containing my black dress shoes to the passenger area. "Wow, you really did pack light," Johanna G joked (I had previously informed then of plans to pack lightly).
First leg of the air journey: A lovely little red eye flight (12:30 am departure time) to Houston. Ever been there? I hadn't. It was definitely "southern" — the airport even had a row of special chairs for shoe shining. I jokingly mentioned to LG that I could get my (white) sneakers polished. Little did I realize how necessary that almost was.
Second leg: Morning flight to Baltimore. I sat next to a Houston lady who helped with the refugees in the Astrodome. She said her church (Jehovah's Witness) pitched in to help with refugees — one family housed about 50 people! Pretty impressive.
Perhaps we had already arrived in Baltimore, when I realized my small bag was no longer with us. I had left it reposing in the overhead compartment and hadn't given it a second thought until many miles separated us. "I can't wear white shoes to the wedding," thought I to myself (beside being sneakers and being white, they were decidedly less than new in appearance). "I could go in just my socks," I stated. "You could spray paint your socks," said Gordon G. "They're already black — they wouldn't need that," said I. Hey, some people dance without shoes on (i.e. at a sock hop) — but then, mixed group, unmarried-people dancing isn't something I approve of, so that's no support to the shoe-less idea.
We rented a van and headed for Belleville, PA, stopping at an Anabaptist clothing, etc store on the way. I looked for shoes, found nothing very desirable, and ended up wearing Johanna's to the wedding. All was well that ended well.
Derelle M (who was also along) and I went to Fred King's for supper. It was there that I began to form a general opinion of the Big Valley (that's where Belleville is) girls. They're outgoing and genuinely friendly. There's nothing standoffish or snooty about them (I'm speaking generally here — which leaves room for exceptional (ly bad) individuals). They acted like they REALLY wanted to know me, they didn't hide mumly in a corner, and they smiled nicely. There must be something in the water, or in the families, of Big Valley. Maybe that's why fellows from my church regard belles from Belleville as rather desirable (one's married off to such a girl, another is engaged to such a girl).
Mr. King is a dairyman, so I asked him what they use vets for in that valley. I've wondered if there is little place for farm animal vets these days, but it appears they make good use of them around there. Displaced abomasums seemed to be a big deal.
DM and I stayed at Esther Sharp's place along with LT and CS (LT was only there Friday night). We had some good discussions (headcoverings, split skirts, ?) but also got a reasonable amount of sleep.
If you want an interesting wedding sermon, ask for Urie Sharp. He preached B & L's.
I served tables with my brother (hopefully he didn't mind being stuck with me — I personally think that was better than being paired with some guy I was unattached to. It could make us feel like a couple when we shouldn't. And, besides, I had more fun with my brother than I would have had with a mostly unknown guy). J Smucker's daughter was there with her family, and it so happens that Matt and I served their table. That was the third time I've seen them this summer, but the occasion is always welcome.
I won't say that we performed flawlessly, but we got the people fed, no one yelled at us, and I didn't dump corn on anyone's lap.
I went forward during the open mike session — first time I've ever done that. It's not like I had anything very earth shattering to say, but I felt like it and didn't have any pressing reason not to. That demonstrated lack of inhibition/enjoyment of speaking in front of groups may serve me ill one of these days...
There are some die-hard volleyball players in Belleville — they had games going from ~6 pm to 10 or 11 pm in the Locust Grove Mennonite Church (part of the Mennonite General Conference, perhaps?) gym. Matt and I quit early (I was rather out of it and having trouble focusing (that's probably not that out of the ordinary for me at volleyball, but it was worsened by my lack of sleep)), went downstairs, and played a piano for a while.
When people say "Last but not least," it implies that one of the other people was the least. Isn't that sort of mean?
posted by Claire at 18:22
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