The Mountains: Part I

We are enjoying a week of cool breezes, relaxation, and little mountain hikes in North Carolina with my parents. It is LOVELY here.

One goal in making the trip from Florida was to attend our dear friend Jane’s wedding to a wonderful guy, Ruben. If I were smart, I would have taken my camera to all the wedding events but…alas. Jane was breathtaking and everything was perfection itself. I’m adding some images I found on the interweb of the various locales to give you a feel for things.

The rehearsal dinner was at a beautiful old-timey house in Valle Crucis:

We ate finger sandwiches and treats on the porch. Met some of Jane’s friends and relatives we didn’t know and actually got to spend some quality time with the bride, groom, and their parents. Imagine that! I don’t remember the last time I actually had a conversation with the bride at a wedding event. The weather was perfect and Benjamin entertained himself by collecting pecans from a field and making a pile of them in the gazebo. Later he told us that he wanted “to go back to the nut house.” He didn’t realize how funny it was but we laughed mercilessly.

The next day we got woefully lost on the way to the church for the wedding ceremony but made it only a couple of minutes late. Thank goodness, too, because I don’t remember when I’ve ever enjoyed a wedding so much. (Let’s just skip over the unfortunate journey to find the location and how all the racing up and down mountain roads made Benjamin violently carsick. Luckily, an extra shirt was stowed in my bag for him. Not because I planned it, just because I’m too lazy to clean out the diaper bag.) The ceremony was at an ancient Episcopal church on a mountain:

Breathtaking! The inside is beautiful wood, simple, and gorgeous. It was a small group of attendees, 50-60 at the most, and felt so intimate and special. The hymns were accompanied by a banjo and guitar and the readings were read in English and Spanish because Ruben and his family are Guatemalan. Jane and Ruben looked so happy and it was delightful to be present. When they were pronounced husband and wife, the church bell was rung. It felt like something from another era. Absolutely perfect.

The reception was held at an old apple barn:

Delightful! Food was gorgeous and vegetarian (like the bride) and instead of a big fussy wedding cake, Jane’s aunts and grandmothers made 8 regular cakes of various delectable flavors. There was dancing, toasts, mingling, joy, and simplicity. Everything about the weekend had Jane and Ruben’s beautiful and thoughtful fingerprints all over it. I really can’t remember ever liking a wedding so much.

Now we’re taking long naps, reading long books, and taking long walks while homebased at the house my grandparents built on Beech Mountain. Benjamin is having the time of his life and we’re having some wonderful family time with my folks. I can’t remember the last time I was this relaxed and I probably won’t have a week with so much leisure time for a good long while.