Barbara J. Hamby

sign-up for our email list

Rainy Wedding

August Rain

Rain’s cool fingers stroke
August’s brow. Crackling
forests embrace her soaking
salve. Pain soothed, rebuilding
begins. Green spreads,
swallows charred remains.

c.2001

Saturday evening it rained on Pumpkin Ridge golf course. I’m sure when Floyd’s daughter and new son-in-law (her then fiance’) planned their outdoor wedding, they felt certain the sun would shine in mid-August. However, the many colorful umbrellas added to the merriment and will be interesting in the pictures, I’m sure. Ironically, the theme color of the wedding was blue, and some of the wedding party, as well as audience members, may have turned slightly blue in the chillier-than-usual air. I had worn a jacket over my short-sleeved dress, so was fairly comfortable during the ceremony. Floyd was much more comfortable in his suit than he would have been had the sun been shining. The reception and buffet dinner were inside and everything was lovely.

Years ago I attended a wedding in Washington Park with blue as the theme color, where most of the participants were shivering and blue. It was in June, however.

It had been many years since the last wedding I attended and some things have changed, others not. I was amused that, in the pseudo-paperless computer society, buying a wedding present created several more pages of paper than the single handwritten receipt from a department store of olden days. I did notice that some people still carried their gifts to the wedding and less paperwork may have been required in those cases. I wanted the luxury of having our gift delivered, so I went to the store with my printout of the registry in hand, the Customer Service person then printed out an updated copy that I took to a clerk. At the store I chose, there was a bit of confusion about proper procedure, but, after some consultation, a clerk took me to a computer where he ordered the gift from the warehouse, entered the billing and delivery information, and printed out a receipt for me. Three pieces of computer-generated paper were required for my part of the transaction. I believe there was at least one page printed out for the store’s files, also.

Other changes I noted at the wedding served to make it more enjoyable. The informality was pleasant and the minister’s humor made sitting in the rain more tolerable. The music was less traditional and more appropriate, I thought. Because this was a second wedding for each of these two former high-school sweethearts, their prom picture by the guest book was a nice touch.