The Golden Weekend: Saturday
Jun. 26th, 2006 04:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
daidoji_giseiSaturday was the anniversary celebration for mbf Karin's parents, the one I've been helping find flowers for.
The reception proper was being held in the afternoon, but the family was having a breakfast get-together in the morning and Karin's sister Ann invited me to come as well. I thought that was very kind of her. Karin and I met in college and we quickly became almost inseparable--for me, it had been like finally having a sister that didn't loathe me. Karin already had a sister who didn't loathe her, and to my additional happiness I became friends with Ann as well. I ended up spending a lot of time at her family's house during my undergrad years, with the result that I always think of her father--world-famous ornithologist Paul Johnsgard--as "that guy who can eat apricot-coconut balls almost as fast as Karin and I can make them". I also learned how to make krumkake, eat lefse, and drink iced tea with a sprig of fresh mint in it. (This is why I have a patch of mint growing next to the porch of my apartment.)
The breakfast was very pleasant. Neither of Karin's brothers questioned my presence, which was a relief. I hadn't really expected them too, but since this was a family occasion I had worried a little. I guess I've been in the family orbit long enough for even the siblings in Texas to remember me.
Karin and I then went to get the flowers, which went without incident. After we got back to the church Karin dashed off to the family photo session and I started to work on the flowers. This was too much fun for me: one of my childhood ambitions had been to be a florist. I cleverly paired the yellow roses with the white daisies and the white roses with the yellow daisies, gave each vase a stem of greenery and arranged the vases on the tables.
The reception was a success, by which I mean the honorees had a good time and there was enough cake for all the guests. One of the brothers had collected a bunch of family photos, scanned them into his computer and produced a slide show. Some of the photos were very funny. Through the magic of technology he even had a few photos of that very day: he'd taken them with his digital camera and downloaded them before the reception started.
Afterward the family decided to go out to dinner, and I got invited along to that also. Karin, her husband Ami and I ended up at one of the table along with Karin's nieces and nephews. The next generation was in high spirits, which made them very entertaining to watch. Eventually we all wandered back to Ann's house and watched home movies. The brother who made the slide show had also gotten the family trove of 8mm movies and had them transferred to DVDs. There was a lot of footage of Karin's siblings eating dandelions, chasing after geese and throwing rocks into a lake. At certain points the audience started supplying dialog and commentary which added to the festivities.
The party broke up around 10, as everyone was pretty tired from the stresses of the day. Karin and I agreed that I would call her hotel after I got back from mass the next morning and then we'd plan how to spend Sunday.
The reception proper was being held in the afternoon, but the family was having a breakfast get-together in the morning and Karin's sister Ann invited me to come as well. I thought that was very kind of her. Karin and I met in college and we quickly became almost inseparable--for me, it had been like finally having a sister that didn't loathe me. Karin already had a sister who didn't loathe her, and to my additional happiness I became friends with Ann as well. I ended up spending a lot of time at her family's house during my undergrad years, with the result that I always think of her father--world-famous ornithologist Paul Johnsgard--as "that guy who can eat apricot-coconut balls almost as fast as Karin and I can make them". I also learned how to make krumkake, eat lefse, and drink iced tea with a sprig of fresh mint in it. (This is why I have a patch of mint growing next to the porch of my apartment.)
The breakfast was very pleasant. Neither of Karin's brothers questioned my presence, which was a relief. I hadn't really expected them too, but since this was a family occasion I had worried a little. I guess I've been in the family orbit long enough for even the siblings in Texas to remember me.
Karin and I then went to get the flowers, which went without incident. After we got back to the church Karin dashed off to the family photo session and I started to work on the flowers. This was too much fun for me: one of my childhood ambitions had been to be a florist. I cleverly paired the yellow roses with the white daisies and the white roses with the yellow daisies, gave each vase a stem of greenery and arranged the vases on the tables.
The reception was a success, by which I mean the honorees had a good time and there was enough cake for all the guests. One of the brothers had collected a bunch of family photos, scanned them into his computer and produced a slide show. Some of the photos were very funny. Through the magic of technology he even had a few photos of that very day: he'd taken them with his digital camera and downloaded them before the reception started.
Afterward the family decided to go out to dinner, and I got invited along to that also. Karin, her husband Ami and I ended up at one of the table along with Karin's nieces and nephews. The next generation was in high spirits, which made them very entertaining to watch. Eventually we all wandered back to Ann's house and watched home movies. The brother who made the slide show had also gotten the family trove of 8mm movies and had them transferred to DVDs. There was a lot of footage of Karin's siblings eating dandelions, chasing after geese and throwing rocks into a lake. At certain points the audience started supplying dialog and commentary which added to the festivities.
The party broke up around 10, as everyone was pretty tired from the stresses of the day. Karin and I agreed that I would call her hotel after I got back from mass the next morning and then we'd plan how to spend Sunday.
