All done with all that

It was said and done on June 20. We had a grand ol' time, but I must say, the best vignette of the day was the flower arranging melee out on the deck, with David's sister, Concha directing a slew of relations in a mad capped frenzy to get six large buckets of flowers whipped into shape...











Meanwhile, I ran about with my hair in curlers...


And despite the fact that my father was still in his grungy cooking clothes as the first guests were arriving....


...we managed to pull it off.

All told, it was exactly what we set out for it to be -- a fun, unscripted party without great hooplas of fanfare, without excess, without obsessive attention to detail and without undue encroachment of the Wedding-Industrial Complex.

Thanks to all who contributed: Cousin Erik and El Sid for the food... my god, the food....; Jimbo and Ann, who stocked us up on some unbelievably yummy Patz & Hall wines; Shiela L, who brought her engineer's mind to the task of coordinating volunteers; Sistah Concha for her creative eye on the flowers; The Right Reverand Lisa Gaines for performing the necessary ceremonials and overseeing the signing of papers, to say nothing of cleaning up the next day; The Divine Ms K for help sorting out the dress situation in my mind, suggesting a nice string of pearls to the groom for a wedding present and transporting the cupcakes down from Cupcake Jones; Nurse Susan for letting herself be directed here and there on the day and for helping with clean up the next; my sons and nephews, David, Bryan, Marcos & Gregory, for lending their youthful strength to the task of moving stuff around; Uncle Keith, Charlie B. and Marcos for shuttling guests from the park; Keith-Beat, Joseph, Aunt Suzanne and various others who took pictures; my parents, my sons, Stepson Logan, Sistah Concha and sister-in-law Mariana for "giving us away," so to speak; and to everyone who came and had a grand time.

Following the wedding, we headed to the coast on a family camping trip.


Yes, that was a little outside the norm, but we did go on a right proper honeymoon to Kauai in due time.


Since our return from that paradise for chickens -- not figurative chickens, as in people with no nerve, but literal chickens --

we've been trying to get our house in order between teaching a summer course down in Corvallis, and heading out on the annual pilgrimage to Santa Cruz, stopping to see various friends and relations down Californy way.

Now it's time to get back to real life and a new blog conceit. I'm closing down this one -- meaning, not making any more entries -- because I am so very done with the whole wedding theme. I only marginally got into it in the first place, to be honest. The blog, that is, not the marrying thing. I'm a happy camper as far as the marrying thing goes. I have the proverbial "sweetest man on Earth," by golly, and all said, it was a job well done.

Auguries and Other Coincidences Afforded Great Significance

A few of days ago, my "Free Will Astrology" advised the following:

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): The light in your eyes looks a little foggy,Virgo. The fire in your belly seems to be smoldering, and your brain has been hiccupping. At least your heart isn't exactly broken. (Though I'm tempted to make suggestions about how to fix it anyway.) Am I worried? Not at all. After the nonstop breakthroughs you enjoyed there for a while, I expected that you would eventually need time to slow down and let everything sink in. So I suggest that you cultivate a state of low-key contentment as your deep mind integrates the transformations you set in motion.

Let's see... In October of 2006, I went on my first date in seven and a half years, and after a bit of a slow start, I proceeded to keep on dating until I had racked up meetings with somewhere on the order of 50 men in the space of one year. One memorable weekend, I had dates with five different men. Out of that 50, I dated approximately 15 of them more than once (i.e. went beyond just an initial meeting). Of those 15, I had something approximating a potential relationship with five. Of those five, I entered into something exclusive with two. Of those two, one quickly turned out to be the quintessential Dud and the other turned out to be the quintessential Keeper.

The Keeper and I agreed upon exclusivity in December last, thus ending my epic, year long od[d]yssey through the Metaverse and Beyond in search of True Love, or at least pleasant companionship. And on August 5, at about 8:45 PM, in the third tier behind homeplate of AT&T Park in San Francisco, looking out over the Bay, between the bottom of the fifth and top of the sixth during a game between the Giants and the Atlanta Braves, with the Giants down by two (see... I'm learning the lingo) and a cracker in my mouth, David Muñoz grabbed my hand and asked "Will you marry me" while shoving a ring on my left ring finger before I could say anything -- there being a cracker in my mouth and him playing Quick Draw McGee.

People ask two things: "it wasn't during the seventh inning stretch?" and "was it up on the big screen?" No to the former and thank god no to the latter. I would have had to decline if he had proposed on the scoreboard big screen. That would be a go straight to jail, do not pass 'go', do not collect $200 maneuver, and he's lucky he thought better of it when it crossed his mind to do just that.

So, you see, now is the time to let things sink in and cultivate a state of low-key contentment after a whirlwind of activity lasting now, including my 10+ months of exclusivity with David, almost two years, as advised by Rob Brezny. There is no date and there really is no big hurry, I shouldn't think. The first time I got married, I managed to pull something off within three months. I would not advise that, particularly if 'pulling something off' includes actually meeting the person to whom you will get married within three months.

This is where I will keep all and sundry up to date on what's planned for when and related tales of what it's like to get married and all that in one's middle years in the early 21st century. It's safe to expect a party, but don't be counting on some big tah-doo with tuxes and publicly expressed vows and other bridal tropes and hoo-hahs. We're too old for that. Besides, I want to spend my money on a really great trip that's conveniently and coincidentally called a "honeymoon."