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28 December 2011

Ending Where We Began: Part II: Roadsick

I have no idea why the date on this post says December 28.
It's July 18, 2012.


I'm looking back at this blog and wondering, what happened to these people? They seem to have fallen off the earth. Wonder where they landed? Wow. We've been out of touch. We hope that none of you are offended by our lack of communication on this blog since last August. A lot has happened since then, and we certainly never intended to leave out that final leg of our "Cyclemoon." But here we are, settled in our (second) new flat in San Fran. It's summer break (well. I use the term "break" loosely here. I'm taking 9 credits, becoming oriented at my clinical practicum site--the San Francisco VA--and starting to actually be a therapy-group facilitator. Scary. Derek is hard at work researching, dissertating and job-hunting.) Needless to say something has been missing. This summer pales--PALES--in comparison to last. 


Over the past nine days, Derek and I have been celebrating our first wedding anniversary. Yup. We can't just take one day to do anything. I don't think it's because we're entitled, or anything like that. We've just decided that some things are worth celebrating in their own good time. So, this past weekend we took The Bike (A.K.A. Verrocchio's Apprentice. A.K.A. Leo. A.K.A. Grasshopper. Apparently we also can't just have one name for important metal appendages) down to Big Sur, the magnificent coastline south of Monterey and Carmel, CA. We camped (car-camped, unfortunately it was too far in too little time for us to bike all the way there and back again. Darn).  We took Leo for a nice, long (yes, it's all relative) 25-ish mile ride along some of the most stunning scenery and terrain our green friend has seen yet. I whined some. We ate a big hot lunch (leftover vegetarian chili warmed up on the camp stove). We pedaled our tushies off up some gigantic hills, and then FLEW down them, sometimes keeping up with traffic along the fairly busy Highway 1. At the end of the day, we jumped joyfully into a beautiful green-blue pool fed by a coastal mountain stream. We ate a giant meal at a local taphouse for dinner. It was all so reminiscent of our beautiful Cyclemoon. I awoke this morning, back in San Fran, and headed off to school feeling a strange feeling, though it was somehow familiar. It wasn't that I was homesick. Nope. I was roadsick.


And for some reason, all of this led me back to our other old friend, the blog. Maybe it's something about telling this story...it still feels unfinished. Perhaps we hadn't yet finished telling the story because we didn't want to finish it, because that meant the journey was really over.


Perhaps I'm over-thinking things.


But the point is, here we are. We're gonna cross the finish line here, finally. Better late than never, right?


So...first, we'd like to give a shout-out to our dear friend Deb, who helped to create our fab celebration in Iowa and lives in New Ulm, MN. Our route out of Spirit Lake took us 80 miles north and a tad west, to Tracy, MN (about 40 miles from New Ulm). Now, having taken a few days off the road, and especially having eaten a rather large number of bright blue cupcakes, Deb kindly offered to haul our trailer and most of our gear for us on that leg. To give you an indication of what that meant to us, we normally averaged about 12.5 miles per hour. Of course this can vary a bit with winds and elevation, and also with distance--but really it stays fairly steady. But on that day, we flew up to a whopping 16.8...watch out, Lance! and Thanks, Deb. That was a GREAT day.


As we came into Walnut Grove-just 8 or 10 miles from our destination, we phoned Laurie and Elverne (Derek's maternal grandparents) to let them know we'd be arriving shortly. They had been in touch with a newspaperman from the Tracy Headlight Herald and he was to write a story on our trip. What we did not expect, however, was for the man to be waiting alongside Hwy 14 and to jump out of the bushes and start snapping pictures of us as we pedaled the last few miles of our journey. For a moment, we could not figure out why the paparazzi was in the bushes between Tracy and Walnut Grove, Minnesota, and furthermore why they were interested in two very sweaty, tired, but overjoyed cyclists (mind you we're happy to be newlyweds but even happier to be coming to the end of an 80 mile day, cargo or no cargo). Then, as it dawned on us, he jumped in his little red car, sped ahead of us, and did it again...and again. This is serious reporting, here. Later he sent over his protege, Mac (and no, I am not just making that up), to interview us. We were extremely pleased to be front page news two days later. Seriously. Front page. Very sweet.


If it looks like the stoker is working harder here, well...no fair. I'm writing this post so Derek will have to take another opportunity to defend himself. :)


Laurie and Elverne (A.K.A. Grandma and Grandpa Ziemke) were kind enough to put us up for a few days (even though we'd just had a nice break we were ready for another!) and show us around town. They made us several delicious meals and splurged on a wonderful pancake breakfast at the senior community center, where we chatted with several fine folks. I was introduced to "The Farm"--which has been the livelihood and home for the Ziemke family for over a hundred years. After hearing countless stories about the place, I was happy to finally see it with my own eyes.


One noteworthy evening (partly so because we actually remembered to both bring the camera and take photos) brought us to Marshall, MN for a workout at the Y, a yummy Chinese supper, and a concert in the park.


 Positively chuffed with our fortunes at the Hunan Lion.


 The name of the band eludes us. They told bad jokes but played some fun folk and Celtic music.


The sky was unbelievable. We were happy to be outside together beneath it.


A few days into our stay, Derek's folks joined us in Tracy. We celebrated a birthday and made preparations for our final wedding celebration which would take place in Redwood Falls, MN at Ramsey Park. We were very pleased to see (and in my case, to meet!) many members of the Meyers clan--and again really appreciate all the help in the arrangements and prep--you all know who you are! Thanks a million. It was another wonderful celebration! Zindie has kindly shared her pictures of the event:


Final Celebration, go for launch!














Face off of the English Profs...I wonder what they're discussing?











Some of the clan noshing and giving the rest of us the pleasure of witnessing the Meyers Group Laugh!

Baby Estella distracting her Aunt Holly and Grandma Carol from their baked beans and home-baked rolls (made by Noelle, lovely in purple paisley)












Derek's cousin Landon and his boys Micah and Asher romp around, exploring the park...what a lot of energy! Whew...
It's a big family, and a beautiful one. I was really happy to meet so many of you...and for the rest of you I still have yet to meet, I look forward to it a great deal.
We were both feeling so incredibly lucky that day that we have inherited such awesome, lively, caring, talented and wonderful families!


The day after the celebration, we couldn't help but take a little side trip up to the cities to check out Target Field with Kent and Zindie. When in Twins Territory...


 Sadly, Bert wasn't there that day. He was busy being inducted into the Hall of Fame. I wonder if he rode his bike there...?
Also, the Twins  did not win. And we did not witness Jim Thome hitting his 600th career home run, although he did so a few games later. 
So we are surprisingly cheerful...but hey, we're newlyweds!

After being in Tracy, we headed out for one long day towards Brookings, SD, where Derek and I both went to college and where we met each other. The visit wouldn't have been complete without the generosity and hospitality of the Falken family, with whom we had both become acquainted a few years ago in our own ways--Derek being the roommate of Al, myself being a fellow thespian with Val. Both of us meeting Dennis and Judy in various capacities: seamstress, landlord, friends-of-parents, patrons of the arts...We were also very pleased to see a few familiar faces--friends and previous profs from our respective departments--at one last impromptu celebration at Cubby's Sports Bar (the best!).

Plan B came in around this time...on the road between Tracy and Brookings my knee started giving me some trouble. A quick check-in with the doc told us it was tendonitis, and we'd probably be okay. We had about 400 miles to go back to Spearfish, many of them across no-man's land, which in most cases we'd have enjoyed thoroughly, but with a bum knee didn't sound quite as appealing. Zindie was on her way back from MN to Spearfish and it was decision time. 

We felt pretty good about finishing where we started.

Now, at the risk of this sounding very final...a few more things to say...

Driving back across South Dakota was surreal...we still had plenty of time to process and think...I kind of felt like we'd been on a strange cycle-fairytale...on a quest across the hot yellow plains...but in search of...what?

Many people understood exactly why we did what we did without us really needing to give explanation.
Others asked us..."Why on earth...?"
Or told us we were crazy. Yup, we got that one a lot.

So why did we do it? 

There isn't really any one reason.
It could be because we love bikes. We really do. We think they're awfully swell. Because they get you from A to B faster than walking, they don't give off any icky emissions, and gosh-darnit, they're fun. Remember what it felt like to be a kid, and get on your bike and pump your legs as hard as you could just to see how fast you could go? Just for the fun of it? We had the opportunity to remember that unpredictably wonderful feeling of near-flight. That's part of the feeling of road-sickness I described before. Derek has given me something pretty incredible. OK, D-Rock has given me LOTS of somethings incredible. One of them is a regained sense of adventure, which I think I used to have in there somewhere but maybe lost...now I'm feeling so inspired to find adventure everywhere. Just for the pure joy of it. I feel that, still, looking back on this journey. I feel it every time we mount our grasshoppery steed and hit the road.

Partly, I think we felt inspired to do something different.
To show that it can be done. Two ordinary people can use a bicycle as their means of transportation for a long journey, not to mention a short one. We did it to encourage others to do the same...on a small or large scale...and there are so many reasons to cycle, I can only begin to name them. Commuting by bicycle is a joy because, for one thing, at least until more people get out of their cars, much of the time is spent whizzing past all the traffic. I constantly want to cajole drivers childishly, "Haha! Beat ya!" For another thing, it combines your commute with your exercise, giving you more time to do things like...well, whatever it is you like to do. Read a book. Make banana bread. Start a blog. Watch "Glee." 

Maybe this is my favorite reason to ride: you see things differently from a bicycle. Yeah, sure, if we'd have driven our route we would have gotten there faster. So what? I wouldn't have been able to see--let alone count-- how many dragonflies we saw hovering along the roadside (and if you want to know the magic number is 12,832--though many of them were mating and it was sometimes difficult to distinguish). I wouldn't have known that many of them were floating over bergamot in the ditches. I wouldn't have felt the same breeze against my back that pressed prairie grasses over each other in their yellow dance.I wouldn't have truly felt the landscape, every bump and hill--it's not until you're using your body to navigate places that you really experience them. Seriously, I have driven across Nebraska about eighteen times and never realized there are actually hills there. Big, beautiful ones. It was on a Nebraska Sandhill where my Captain Derek helped to teach me the meaning of "letting go"--at over 40 miles per hour, the fastest I've ever gone due to my own body's power (OK, yes, Gravity deserves some of the credit), we were kids again, finding flight on two wheels. And, I'm so proud to say that this past weekend in Big Sur, he did it again (ok, we only got up to 39.6), and THIS time I did not freak out and get upset and say things like "What do you MEAN you didn't hear me shouting in your ear to SLOW THE BLEEP DOWN!?" Nope. This time, I was just laughing. Giggling, really. All the way down the hill, watching the computer's line for mph tick from 36 to 37...38...39.2...39.3..39.6...."Aww, don't slow down NOW!"

During our Cyclemoon I was reminded of my own power--when you finish riding somewhere you're left with a sense of accomplishment and praise for the power of your own body, this vessel that can do amazing things for you--(of course after a particularly long day that does seem to come, at least for me, in harmony with a little whining, a  cool dip in the pool and a big meal). But I was also reminded of the power of God and Nature--the best example I can recollect: between Burwell and O'Neill, Nebraska, when we tried to outrun a thunderstorm. Even pushing it at 22 mph on a flat and empty spot, we couldn't do it. The storm swirled around us as if to say "Really? You thought you could win this race?" Then, just in case it hadn't already made its point by drenching us with rain while we counted the seconds between the lightning and thunder from the roadside ditch, we watched, inches in front of where we sat, a monarch butterfly wrap its feet around a piece of prairie grass, bent over nearly ninety degrees by the winds, and hang on for dear life. I couldn't help but feel just like him, cosmically small in that moment--but in the most beautiful way. 

I am left in awe, time and again. 

So, we encourage you, the next time you go on vacation, if you can, rent bicycles instead of a car, or take mass transit if possible, and walk, as much as possible. When you go out exploring, leave the car behind...and then open your eyes and ears and let your senses shout!

But this trip wasn't just about biking...it was about showing that we can all do some things, many things, to reduce the impact we have on the Earth. I say this now mostly to thank you for helping us to achieve that goal throughout, and to remind us all that these choices, at least in our society, are constant contributors in some way to the bigger picture. So...it's about buying biodegradable cups and plates, recycling everything you possibly can, not worrying about the latest and greatest gadget and gizmo or fashion or fad. Shop at the thrift, use cloth bags, ask your grocery store to stop putting stuff in plastic wrap. Carpool. Buy products that were made with solar power, wind, hydro. Vote with your wallet and your feet.

But most of all, however you can and in whatever way works for you: remember what it was like to be a kid, what it felt like to be so full of joy you thought you might just sprout wings and fly.


And, again, and again and again, Thank You to everyone for helping us to create four beautiful wedding celebrations full of music and laughter and merry memories. And for so many beautiful gifts that sustained us on the trip (and continue to do so!)--providing us with comfortable shorts, hydration, yummy gummy road snacks, and big delicious suppers in small town diners. And for the beautiful gifts that now grace our home--books and beads and Peruvian bowls and bamboo boards and birch tree tapestries... and for  all your words and wisdoms and all your warmth. 
Thanks to the Wind-God for beautiful weather. 
Thank you, legs, for getting us there. 

Thank You, Captain Derek, for helping remind me what it means to adventure,  to be utterly, completely filled up with joy. 

and they all lived happily ever after.




But that's not really the end of the story, now, is it?




















14 August 2011

Ending Where we Began


Plan B: Instead of ending where we started this trip, we ended where we started our relationship! Things have a way of working out...


But we better catch you up on where we've been! So here are some photos from our gathering in Spirit Lake, Iowa!




We were greeted by CJ and her sisters, her niece and grand-nieces and nephews!



In this pic, from left to right: Derek, Laura, Beckett, Ryer, Stella, Jake, and Cail


Then, it was nap time!



The next morning, Grandma Ellen and Martha Dakota hosted a lovely breakfast for us!


Laura, Kelty, and Jenny enjoying some food together at the Lakeside reception!






CJ, Deb, Cory, and Martha sing


Hanging out at the lake!


A beautiful tower of cupcakes...


...which we devoured with glee!

...and sometimes with a little disappointment...




The women of the family honoured Laura with another shower!

The sun sets over Spirit Lake...and another grand celebration!





31 July 2011

Leg II: Fort Collins to Spirit Lake


Well, we're currently in Spirit Lake, IA recovering a bit from last nights celebration before heading to Tracy, MN tomorrow. We'll write more in our next post about the festivities, but first we should say something about the ride to get here and post some photos of the journey.

So, the route we had planned ran like this:



View Wedding Ride II in a larger map


And this is still essentially the route we stuck to, except that we changed a few of the places that we stayed at. A few by choice and a few due to necessity (e.g. we couldn't cross the Missouri near Niobrara because the road was flooded, so we crossed at Yankton instead). Some of the most notable things that happened on this part of the journey were that we road our first century (107 miles from Fort Collins to Sterling, CO), we had our first good dousing in a thunderstorm between Burwell and O'neill, NE, we broke 1,000 miles on our trip so far as we were riding between Freeman, SD and Rock Rapids, IA and we also crossed into our fifth state (Iowa). Finally, because of our route change due to the flooded Missouri, we got to stop in Rock Rapids and see my cousin Desiree and her one year old daughter Annen. It was a really hot ride, but we made pretty good time and had lots of fun. Anywho, here are some of the pictures from the trek:




Laura took this crazy photo of me leaping amongst the fireflies at our campsite in Broken Bow. Unfortunately the fireflies don't show up very well in the photo. Also unfortunate, our campsite was really close to some train tracks that kept us up during the night, but we got a few hours of sleep and our next location was much better.


From Broken Bow, we biked up to Burwell where we camped right next to the north fork of the Loup River in the city park. It was an excellent spot. This doe and two fawns came down for a drink towards sunset.



Laura poses by an old sod house at the park in Burwell.


Laura takes a break in the shade on this beautiful tree lined gravel road just south of O'neill, NE.


Coming into O'neill there was this great mural on the side of one of the buildings. With all the action taking place in this mural, it's hard to disagree with all the fun the Nebraskans must be having. The giant shamrock is because O'neill is the Irish capital of Nebraska, apparently. We did stay in a really great hotel here and had breakfast at a nice restaurant that both had an Irish influence.


This was taken at the top of one of the biggest hills we've climbed yet. And strangely it was in Nebraska, between Creighton and Bloomfield.


In Bloomfield after having some really good rolls at this local bakery, we biked east into this beautiful sunrise that took on different forms as we continued across Nebraska's rolling hills.


Here it is again.


That same day we crossed the Missouri at Yankton. Typically there wouldn't be any water around these trees.

Back into SD.

We had just a little bit of rain as we headed into Iowa. Here I am taking a break before heading down into the Big Sioux River Valley and crossing into Iowa.

26 July 2011

DONUTS!

We've been making a habit of getting breakfast items (juice, muffins, donuts, rolls to go with our yummy jar of almond butter) the night before, because this allows us to munch whilst we're packing up and getting ready to hit the road. The earlier we can leave, the better. We'd prefer to be on the road in the dark than in this crummy heat!! Anyway, last night, upon arriving in Bloomfield, NE, we found a delightful bakery and picked out some rolls for ourselves...but as we were talking the owner said, "Now, wait, these are for tomorrow? Well what time are you leaving? Early? You better trade those in and get fresh ones in the morning. We open at 5!" So that's just what we did. And let me tell you, fresh rolls at 5:30 am are the best thing since...well, you know. 

So, those powered us through long enough to get us back into South Dakota. We're in Freeman, just north of Yankton, and we've got two more days planned to get us to Iowa. But thinking about the next party has also got us thinking about the last one...so we'd better share with you!

Party Prep: Theresa helped us out by making a vat of potato salad!! (And T and her honey, Chris, put us up in their abode for three days, too!! Which was wonderful, as always! Thank You!)

Derek's Aunt Nancie and Uncle Paul join us in the Awesome Matching T-Shirts Club!


Greg and Jamie--pals from Derek's Masters program at CSU...and fellow world travelers! How's China?

The Table Decor was styled with help by Nancie, Theresa, and Chris...we sent a box of our original decorations down from Spearfish that will continue to attend more of the events! Get excited!!!

The fine work of an artist, the Upright Tower of Wedding Favors


One of the tires went flat at the party! Uh oh...WHO was the Captain on the way there, Kevin???

Speaking of being the Captain, Kevin also graced the party with this awesome stunt...(many of you had left already, I'm sorry you didn't see it live because it really was quite something!!!)






Leg I: Spearfish, SD to Fort Collins, CO


Nebraska is STEEP! Who woulda thunk? Well, anyway, we are sitting here in our motel room in Bloomfield after a small hitch in our plans...the highway we were planning to take beyond Niobrara (after camping at the pleasant Niobrara State Park) is flooded! So we changed our route and ended up on an extremely hilly road through Creighton that led us, eventually, here...some of the biggest hills we've seen since leaving SD. Anyway, we had a fun day though it was steep and HOT, and we thought we'd look back on the earlier part of our trip and share it with you!!

Here was our intended route:

View Wedding Ride I in a larger map


Starting off in front of the Meyers house in Spearfish. Derek's  dad, Kent, his brother Jordan, his Aunt Nancie, and our friend John rode with us up the canyon to Cheyenne Crossing...
...where we met a big group of friends and family to have a bon voyage breakfast!

Outside Cheyenne Crossing after some delectable sourdough pancakes!

The Hills are so incredibly green after so much rainfall!

In Hill City, we stayed at an adorable B&B called Mountains and Plains--it is also the Smiling Bear Gift Shop. The owners, Sam and Linda, were incredibly sweet and wonderful, and made us omelettes in the morning to send us off!!

Here are some more pics of the B&B on their website.

Geology Rocks!

From Hill City, we had beautiful weather heading south on the Michelson Trail , until  we were nearing Edgemont. The skies started threatening rain, and we ditched the gravel trail for the shorter, faster road...as we came within a mile or two of Edgemont, the skies opened up. Our original plan was to camp on the southwest side of Edgemont in the Buffalo Gap Grasslands, but instead we opted for a motel (The Rainbow) . What would we expect to see over the hotel office on our way back from a big steak and potato dinner...?
After Edgemont, we had three hot and hilly days through eastern Wyoming, staying one night in Lusk, and then two nights in Torrington (one night camping, and the second, after Laura woke up with a nasty cold, in the Days Inn, our second decision to stray from our plan!)

Finally, we reached Cheyenne, again just before an enormous storm began brewing over the top of us. By that time, though, we were having AMAZING Italian food  at a little place called L'Osteria Mondello! It really was spectacularly good.  The front of the place was a little pizzeria, but then in the back they had a full menu with wait service.  And not only was the food spectacular, but they also gave us free cannolis!  So, if you're ever in Cheyenne, we highly recommend it.



The next morning, bright and early, we had breakfast in this old fashioned diner, which was also our hotel's front office.  Here's Derek looking a bit groggy, probably waiting on his coffee.

 

After about 10 miles of riding, we caught our first glimpse of the Rockies.  Little did we know, that the service road we thought would take us nicely alongside the interstate would soon turn to gravel.  This meant that we had to spend about 10 miles slowly riding or walking the bike along county roads until we were able to pick up Terry Lake Road into Fort Collins (the third change in our route).  The riding after that, though, was simply grand.  We cruised into town again just before the rain hit.  So, all in all it was a rather smooth trip.  We made some adjustments and got to our destination right on time!





23 July 2011

Spearfish Wedding and Reception


Just to give you some background, Laura and I planned our wedding around a bike trip; the idea being that instead of people driving to come to our wedding, we would bike to some central locations where we had lots of family and friends. This first post covers the events in Spearfish where we had a proper and very beautiful ceremony in Spearfish, SD followed by a reception for friends and family there. Posts to come will cover our journey and further celebrations in Fort Collins, CO; Spirit Lake, IA; and Redwood Falls, MN.

Adam Ziegler comes down the aisle with his daughter, the flower girl, Taycee.


Laura's brothers, Paul (Left) and Kevin (right) walked her down the aisle.


Derek's Mom, Zindie, reads:

A Map of the World

by Ted Kooser

One of the ancient maps of the world

is heart-shaped, carefully drawn

and once washed with bright colors,

though the colors have faded

as you might expect feelings to fade

from a fragile old heart, the brown map

of a life. But feeling is indelible,

and longing infinite, a starburst compass

pointing in all the directions

two lovers might go, a fresh breeze

swelling their sails, the future uncharted,

still far from the edge

where the sea pours into the stars.



The second reading we chose was recorded by our dear friend Jessie Akos, who couldn't be with us in person that day, as she had just given birth to a beautiful baby boy!

Bicycles
by Nikki Giovanni

Midnight poems are bicycles
taking us on safer journeys
than jets
quicker journeys
than walking
but never as beautiful
a journey
as my back
touching you under the quilt.

Midnight poems
sing a sweet song
saying everything
is all right

Everything
is
here for us

I reach out
to catch the laughter

The dog thinks
I need a kiss

Bicycles move
with the flow
of the earth
like a cloud
so quiet in the October sky
like licking ice cream
from a cone
like knowing you
will always
be there

All day long I wait
for the sunset

The first star
the moon rise
I move
to a midnight
poem
called
You
Propping
Against
the Dangers



Derek's Dad, Kent, shares some words of his own:

The summer Derek was nine he developed an interest in grasshoppers. There were a lot of them around, and he thought he should have a few, so we found him a glass jar, and we cut holes in the lid, and Derek prepared an expedition to the meadow between our house and the creek. Before long he came running back. We anticipated a grasshopper bonanza, but discovered instead, when he got in the door, that his right hand was bleeding—profusely.

He hadn’t discovered some kung-fu grasshopper that considered living in a jar an insult. Rather, the grasshoppers were quicker than he’d anticipated, and after several failures at catching them, he had a good idea. If the grasshoppers wouldn’t go inside the jar, the jar would go outside the grasshoppers. Derek crept up to the next grasshopper he saw, lifted his jar like a net and swung it down, capturing the grasshopper inside.

For a split second.

In the next split second, the jar didn’t exist, since the grasshopper happened to be sitting on a rock.

You can fill out the rest of the story.

Perhaps I shouldn’t be speaking of blood and gore at a wedding. I hope no one’s feeling faint. I should be speaking of love and togetherness, not the groom’s former wounds and failures, and if I have to talk about insects, tradition probably demands butterflies. But there are things that stick in a parent’s mind, and they stick for reasons, and a wedding is a time to wonder about how the past, even in its small ways, is held to the future.

There’s this, for instance: Our lives are fragile: breakable and crystalline, and we—you might say—hold them in our hands, and we move through a pretty wondrous world and collect things—experiences, memories, relationships: grasshoppers. And there are times when, come hell or high water or rocks, you just have to go after a grasshopper. The fullest kind of living may be when you’re sensing the wonderful fragility of what you hold and yet you’re going headlong after your passion.

One of the beauties of a wedding is its sense of fragility. This ceremonial moment right now is fragile—in its particularity, its light, its gathering of these people, all of us here. In another few minutes or hours, it’s going to break, and time will resume, and then there’ll be memories of a wholeness, a thing made and framed and created. And inside that thing, a relationship captured and held, a living relationship that Derek and Laura will carry, together, through the rest of their lives. Time shatters everything. Memory and relationship hold things together. A wedding pulses between these two truths.

This—this moment right now—is your grasshopper, Derek and Laura, inside this fragile jar of a day. Carry it carefully. Find other such moments. Go after them. Point out for each other the rocks.


Derek and Laura make their vows to each other:

To join with you and share all that is to come,
in joy and in sorrow, in plenty and in want, in sickness and in health,
to love and to cherish, as long as we both shall live.



PARTY TIME!!!

After some pictures we (around 30 riders) headed out for a cruise around Spearfish. We had a nice ride and got some great looks!

And since we were already on the bicycle, we decided to just ride right in to our reception in the Spearfish City Park Pavilion.


Kevin strangling his (and our) nephew Noah. Because what would a reception be without some good old fashioned horsing around.



And of course there was cake. We had four different flavors (flavours if you're British). Here I (Derek) am insisting Laura try the lemon cake with raspberry filling while she becomes very assertive with some cake of her own.


And finally, there was dancing. Oakhurst played at our wedding (visit www.porchmusic.com for a taste of their music) which was a real treat and Taycee loved them!



In fact, we all loved them. Everyone got out on the dance floor. It was a great time.

So, now Laura and I have been sitting at a place called the Pizza Palace in Burwell, NE for about 2 hours and our computer is running out of juice. We are too and we need to head to our campground and get some Z's before our ride to O'Neill, NE tomorrow. But we'll try to post again tomorrow on the first leg of our journey to Fort Collins, CO. Ciao!