East and Back

So I went to Booth Bay Harbor, Maine this weekend for Jen & Stanley's wedding. It was a perfect place, weather and weekend to celebrate their nuptials.

There are also some funny stories involving hexes and scaring old ladies in their hotel rooms. There was copious alcohol consumption, dancing, and lobster.

And of course there are pictures, which I will share in lieu of writing more.

This quick trip to Maine is my last planned excursion until Thanksgiving. I haven't had this much planned time in Texas since the beginning of this year. Though I am looking forward to it. I've got some house projects to do.

Ice cream served with a laugh

If I lay on the floor underneath my new coffee table, I can see the faint lines of a young boy's crayon playtime. It's a collection of squiggles intending to be something grand, I think.

That boy was my father, and the table belonged to Gammy, my grandmother who passed away a couple of years ago.

This is a table that I ate large bowls of afternoon ice cream on while watching Superman, my favorite movie, when I was a little girl.

My grandfather piled his technical magazines and catalogs on the right corner, near his side of the couch.

And for 25 years, I would always sit on the couch and look at the collection of family pictures between the glass and the wood. My cousin in a prom dress, circa 1985. My sister's baby picture. My favorite picture of me. I am about three years old, and wearing the CUTEST raincoat and hat. Under the glass my parents are younger than I am now.

Underneath those pictures was a table of beautiful inlaid wood. One which now sits in my living room, not quite matching with the rest of my stuff. And I'm glad it's here and not just because it is gorgeous, interesting wood. Every time I look at it, I water for a big bowl of chocolate ice cream smothered in whipped cream. And I think of the cackle of Gammy's laugh, constantly employed by the grand personality of my short red-headed, blue-eyed Irish grandmother.