Rain and Roses

...why aren't you checking into a five-star inn and getting amazing massages and going out to dinner with family and friends in preparation for getting married?* Huh? It's the weekend! Do something that makes you amazingly, awesomely happy!

Everybody should tell me what they're going to do this weekend to make themselves as happy as I am. Because it's awesome.


*Less elaborate but equally awesome activities are perfectly acceptable substitutes. Rain and Roses makes no claim or guarantee, implicit or explicit, as to awesomeness of activities. Any pouting or negative attitude voids warranty. Life is what you make of it. Batteries not included.

Our 3rd/4th of July celebration was really quite fun.  You couldn't ask for better weather - when we got out to the beach it was sunny and almost sweltering (fortunately a nice breeze coming off the ocean helped with that).  A few friends joined us and we got a fire going, and between the five of us there were plenty of drinks (alcoholic and non-) and food to go around.  Somewhere around my fourth bottle (over a period of hours, I wasn't drunk) I made a declaration that my usual eat-healthy mantra was suspended for the duration of the holiday, given how many liquid calories I was consuming.  Amusingly, though, aside from the drinks I think I actually ate healthier than normal - Brian made grilled salmon and corn on the cob, and I made honey mustard chicken sausage shishkebabs with peppers and zucchini and three-bean salad, and on the whole we had a rather delightfully gourmet barbeque.

Some moments that are sticking out in my mind:

• Reading the first bit of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies to Brian while we waited for folks to show up
• Almost stumbling over a young child of six or so, wrapped up in blankets and conked out on the beach around 11:00
• Watching kids playing on a tire swing in the exact same way I used to when I was young
• Hurriedly moving the campsite when the tide started coming in
• Justin declaring he was "going to move the fire"...and then actually doing it
• Amanda looking absolutely adorable with roasted marshmallow smeared all over her face (not that I'd know how *that* happened...*cough*)
• Realizing how much more effort it takes to dance in sand, although AC/DC on a portable boombox is a good motivator
• Discovering exactly how dangerous Mike's Hard Mango Punch can be, given that it doesn't taste like booze at all
• Justin declaring in a Generic European Accent, "Ahh...sneaky booze!  My favorite kind."
• Andy having us in stitches with stories from his past years at Burning Man, including one about the Blue Man (his nickname for the dude who was carried into the medical tent so drugged out that he'd fallen face-first into a port-a-potty)
• Singing "Rock Me Amadeus" to the radio with Andy (and, yes, dancing some too)
• Discussing Palin's surprise announcement and all but taking bets on whether she was leaving voluntarily or because the lid was about to pop off of some new and even more hilarious scandal
• Holding Brian while we watched the midnight fireworks

While he's taking pictures of breaching humpbacks out at Douglas Harbor, I'm off by the pier waiting for our friend David (who's been out fishing on his friend's boat) to come in. Thinking I'll check out the time, I pull Brian's iPhone out of my back pocket.

And drop it into the harbor. In murky, cloudy, silty Alaska water.

I reach in to try to find it, then borrow a net and try to dredge it up, but I have only a vague idea of where it is, and I have no luck finding it. Eventually I give up, only to catch sight of the edge reflecting light underneath the surface, and I reach out and grab it. But it's been in there a few minutes already, so it's pretty much dead.

Brian shows up shortly after I do so, and asks what's going on. Everyone on the pier, including David, suddenly finds their feet very fascinating.

I say in a very small voice, "I dropped your phone into the harbor."

There is a very long silence, which includes a Look.

Then he says, "It's okay. I still love you." And hugs me.

David: "I now pronounce you man and wife."

Not sure how well I like this, but it's an effort.


Twirling round
Towards and away, under and through
The pole an anchor
Clinging as I bob and weave
Stepping quickly, this way, that
In and out

The music pounds
Pulling away, pushing back
Fingers brushing waist
Over my shoulder, a coy glance
Eyes and breath catch, hold
His face, stricken

We circle warily
Hunted, huntress, no longer sure
Whipping around
Pressed up against, just a breath
Gone a beat later
One step ahead