Last Sunday was the last of our ten-month-long wedding extravaganza. Sunday was Steve and Rose’s wedding, our seventh wedding in the last ten months. Steve and Rose were both CVCA students, and Steve was one of the founding members of my Royal Fools improv group. Steve and Rose have been dating since their senior year at CVCA seven years ago, and they are a very cute couple, so I was excited for their wedding.

In addition to the fun of the wedding itself, Mer and I love catching up with Steve and Rose’s classmates. We were both pretty close to that class of students, and we have stayed in touch with that particular group of friends. It was a very good time to get to see them again at a wedding and reception.

The wedding was lovely, and was held in a private room of an orchard/restaurant. The ceremony was originally supposed to be outside, but the skies looked as if they might rain, and it had rained earlier in the day, so we ended up inside. One very funny and fun moment – the bridal party came in from outside, and had to pass a huge window that looked into the room where we were seated. To keep the proper suspense about seeing Rose, the wedding coordinator hid her behind a large umbrella so we could not see her go by. It was very cute. The ceremony was quite good, with the minister giving some points on how to make a marriage work, which included things like “Don’t let the sun go down on your anger.” The minister also read the love chapter from Corinthians, reading most of chapter 13. That was good to hear, since Mer and I had been a bit snippy at each other of late, and it helped us both reflect on how we should be better to each other. Toward the end of the ceremony, Steve and Rose also tied two pieces of rope together with a strong knot, and that was cool. They also personalized the ceremony with a recessional to the theme from the original Star Trek movie. That was great.

The reception was much fun, starting with the popular-with-us “candy bar” in addition to appetizers. The “candy bar” was new to us with this round of weddings – it is a bar area with various candies available as part of the pre-meal munching. In this case, it included full-sized packages of M&Ms as well as other candies. Yum. The real appetizers were also excellent (cheese and crackers and Swedish meatballs and such). Mer and I sat with Matt and Clarice, and we had a great time getting caught up with them. We had not seen Matt in awhile, so it was very good to hear how he was doing. Mer and I were both pleased that when we went over to see the cake, we saw that there was a second small cake with a TARDIS on it, from the science fiction show Doctor Who.

The bridal party arrived and a buffet dinner was served. Steve and Rose cut the cake after supper, and then the dancing started. The DJ did a decent job of mixing slow songs with line dances and with faster songs. Mer and I danced the slow songs and did some basic swing dances to many of the faster songs. It was gratifying to put the lessons to good use, including being out on the floor at times when many of the younger folks were all sitting down. We closed the party out at about 10:30 and headed home. We’re both very happy for Steve and Rose, but sad that we do not have another wedding on our social horizon for the first time in over a year.

Last Saturday was Mer’s day to be in charge, and she decided to head back to the Holden Arboretum for the afternoon. We joined Holden as members last October, so Mer wants to see if we can see all the trails in the arboretum before our membership runs out.

We were aiming to be there at 1:15 for a tour, but got there a little late, as there was a detour around construction, and I got pulled over for speeding; I had missed the sign that signified a change in speed limit, and was going 41 in a 25 mph zone. The officer was pleasant and let me off with a warning, but it did make us a little late for our tour. Happily, we were the only people scheduled for the tour, and the tour leader welcomed us and ran though her tour. We had an informative thirty-five minutes or so of touring the Butterfly Garden looking for and learning about butterflies. I learned that butterflies fly during the day, whereas most moths fly at night; also, moths rest with their wings horizontal while butterflies rest with their wings in a vertical position. We learned the fun fact that butterflies “pump” up their wings with fluid when they first come out of their cocoon. We saw four or five different kinds of butterflies, including a very pretty monarch butterfly.

At 2:00, we headed back into the Visitor Center to meet up with our next tour leader, a former English/biology teacher. She was going to take us on the ninety-minute Highlights Trail tour, which shows off a good selection of the arboretum without being too long or too difficult. We had covered most of the ground before on our own, but it was good to have someone narrating a tour and to learn things about the arboretum, such as how it has to dredge the ponds to keep them from filling in with sediment from all of the organic material. We also (sort of) encountered a five-foot-long snake in a shed on the side of a trail. I hate snakes, so I did not go in, but Mer confirmed that it was pretty big and that it had just eaten something. Ugh. We learned about the new area under construction, which is going to be an expansion of the rhododendron garden and looks as if it will be pretty spiffy.

We finished up our tour, but before we left, Mer wanted to check out the one area in the southern part of the arboretum that we had missed when we had been there a couple of weeks ago – the Conifer Collection. We wandered over to where the map said there was a trail, but we only found a large field with some fir trees in it. We wandered around the collection of fir trees, and are convinced that that was the collection, although we never actually found a trail. We headed back to the car, and went home.

Last week was a rough week at work. The first two weeks of a new school year are always rough, but this year was a doozy, with lots of odd software problems. Friday was particularly rough, and by Friday afternoon, I had more or less had my fill of people. So, for the first time in years, I told Mer I was skipping the CVCA picnic.

Every year, CVCA has a picnic for the faculty and staff and their families. It is generally a good time, and I like my colleagues. Last Friday, though, I needed some downtime. I did make a dessert to send to the picnic with Mer, who still went. I stayed home and watch an old episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents.

I did manage to muster myself out of my self-imposed exile to continue my band-cheering tradition. As often as I can make it to a CVCA home football game, I go early and cheer like mad as the band marches to the stadium. I like it, and the kids think it is weird but seem to appreciate it. I did manage to get to CVCA in time to cheer the band, and then I (sort of) watched the football game until halftime. Several former students to whom Mer and I are close came up in the stands to visit me (and Mer, when she arrived in the second quarter), so I split my attention between them and the game. I’m afraid it was not much of a game. CVCA has been good for years, but this game we were behind 35-0 at the half. I did enjoy the band’s halftime show, which is playing music from the musical Les Mis. Mer and I left after halftime.

Saturday was a very mellow day. I was still in a slightly irritated mood from the rough week, and I also had to cut my Saturday morning run short because of back problems, so I was really put out. It was “my” day, so I decided we should stay in and watch The Dark Night, the second of the most recent Batman movies. That was pretty much it for Saturday.

Last Thursday, Mer and I headed up to eastern Cleveland to meet up with her friend Jill. Jill is a fun person, so Mer and I were both looking forward to the evening. Plus, Jill was recommending we go to the very cool Coventry neighborhood. Coventry has great restaurants and unusual shops.

We started the evening with a fantastic dinner at Tommy’s. Mer and I had been to Tommy’s a couple years ago, and were happy to be going back. The food was excellent, and Tommy’s has pretty good art on the wall. This time, it was really spiffy thread drawings that I liked quite a bit. Tommy’s also endears itself to us because one of the main entrances into the restaurant is to and from a book store, where we spent a few minutes browsing.

Jill then encouraged us to check out the local toy store, saying we would like it. She was quite right. The store has lots of original fifties-through-eighties toys in stock for sale, and has lots of currently produced, but retro in style, merchandise. There were Star Wars action figures and comic book heroes and cartoon characters from the eighties and gag gifts and old video games and more. The place was crammed with interesting things, and we spent about an hour in there. It is a great place.

We dropped Jill off at her place and headed home, as we had to work on Friday. A great meal and reliving my youth are hard to beat for a way to spend an evening.

Saturday was Mer’s day, and she started us out by heading north to the Holden Arboretum. We are members there, so we get in free, and Mer wanted to see if we could make a good attempt at walking all the trails there before our membership runs out in October.

It was a sunny and slightly hot day, but pretty in the shade. Happily, most of the trails were in the shade. We got a trail map, and Mer took us on the 1.5-mile-long Bole Woods Trail. The woods trail was pretty, but I was surprised at how quickly the trail looped back on itself. I guess I am used to the longer trails in the park system around our house. We followed that walk by about two miles through the fenced-in Rhododendron Garden (it is fenced to keep deer out). The rhododendrons were mostly past bloom, but it is a serene and beautiful garden to walk in, with small ponds and lots of bushes and trees. We spent quite a lot of time wandering the maze of trails in the garden.

We headed back to the parking lot using a circuitous route of trails, stopping off at an observation tower meant for kids. It overlooked a marshy area that was fairly dry, as we have had little rain of late. We had the tower and environs to ourselves, and although not jaw-dropping scenery, it was pleasant. We finished off our trail walk and got back to the car, where we headed southwest, where we eventually stopped off at a Panera for supper. Panera is not the most romantic of places, but we had a gift card, and the food is very good.

The ultimate destination of the evening, though, was Chagrin Falls. Chagrin Falls is a very cute town with a walking path, a river, a dramatic set of falls, cute shops and good restaurants, and a small but very good community theater. We found a parking spot in a lot on the far side of the falls, which forced us to walk past them. As such, we discovered that there were stairs down to the foot of the falls, which we checked out. I was mad that I had forgotten my camera; it was quite lovely in the evening light.

We wandered over to the theater, where Mer picked up tickets to the sold-out evening’s performance of the musical Hairspray. We still had time before we had to be in our seats, so we used it to wander along the river above the falls along a beautiful walking path. We swung through a couple of blocks of the town on the way back to the theater, just to check out the town. Since the two main ice cream places are right around the falls, the area was pretty busy.

We got back to the theater in time and found our seats. Mer had found out about the show through one of her students. The student, Abby, had a part in the chorus. Normally, the chorus seems like a minor role, but they were on stage a lot of the time. Hairspray has lots of big song-and-dance numbers, so there were lots of times where ten or more people were on stage at the same time.

Briefly, Hairspray is a musical that takes place in Baltimore in the early 1960s and is about a chunky girl with big hair who loves the pop music of the day. She follows her music and her dreams and lands a spot on a whites-only TV music show, and she shows off dance moves she learned from black friends. The musical manages to stay fluffy and tongue-in-cheek while having a plot line of integrating the TV program. There is a lot of humor and the music is catchy.

The Chagrin Valley Little Theater did a marvelous job with the show. They had a ten-piece (or so) orchestra on the stage at the back of the stage, and they really did have a huge cast. All of the main players were excellent, and there were only one or two bit roles where the acting seemed a bit forced at times. The music was top-notch. I was really impressed that a small community theater could put on such a large musical. The only issue they had was with the sound system – the microphone on the lead was acting up and buzzing at times. Happily, it only happened a few times, so it did not take away from the overall show.

Mer and I had been to the Chagrin Valley Little Theater last winter, and it was nice to come back when it was not snowing and when we could wander around the town some. I’m looking forward to going back this upcoming season.

Last Friday was a fun night, even though it may not blog as anything too special. Mer and I went to Canton to Aunt Mary’s, where she made us dinner, and we watched Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! While that sounds fairly tame, it was just what I needed: a quiet evening with people I enjoy. We laughed a lot, and the food was excellent (including generous amounts of whipped potatoes, which I rarely make for myself). I felt relaxed and happy, and it was just what the nurse ordered (Aunt Mary is a nurse).

The students who graduated last May are starting to gear up to go to college. A couple of them made an effort to look me up before they went, which made me feel pretty special. On Wednesday, Ben, who worked for me this summer, came over to play the Wii version of Super Mario Brothers. I had played Super Mario Brothers when I was in college back in the early 1990s, but Mer had never played. It was much fun watching her play. She did quite well for a first-time player, but the real joy was hearing her cry out when bad guys came close. It was a sociable time, as all three of us could play at the same time. Ben clearly was the best of the three of us; I have lost any touch I might have had. It was a great time nonetheless.

On Thursday, I drove up to Hudson to meet one of my CVCA Connections guys, Nate. We met up at Cold Stone Creamery, where we munched on ice cream outside while we talked. We both wanted to keep talking after we were done eating, but I don’t like sitting around, as most restaurant seats get uncomfortable after about forty-five minutes. So, we took to our feet and walked all over Hudson, walking out of the new shopping square, past the library, back into the residential areas, into the old town square, down the main street and back to Cold Stone. It was a great visit. We said goodbye, and I dashed into Cold Stone to pick up an ice cream cake for me and Mer, since she had not had any ice cream. It turns out that the cakes are quite expensive, and while quite good, not twice as good as the bigger Dairy Queen cakes, which cost half as much. Mind you, we still enjoyed it.

Here’s to Ben and Nate! I hope and pray they have great college experiences!

Mer and I were pleased to get an invitation to a party hosted by Linda Rocha, who has worked out in the CVCA guidance department for about twenty-five years. The party was to be at her house, up in eastern Cleveland, and it took place on Saturday afternoon.

Mer and I found the house with no problems, thanks to our GPS. Linda and Bill’s house is in a middle-class neighborhood of close-set homes. The house was cute and well maintained, but it was small across the front, so I was wondering how crowded the party was going to be, especially since it was a cool and cloudy day, so eating al fresco might not be a great option.

I need not have worried. Linda’s husband, Bill, is a mason by trade and can build just about anything. Bill had added an entire wing onto the back of the house, which included a huge dining area that could have seated thirty people comfortably. Linda had some of her family there, as well as her closest CVCA friends, including my colleague Phil and his wife. In all, counting a bunch of kids, there probably were about thirty people there. Linda and Bill had laid out a huge spread of rather wonderful looking food, to which I added my chocolate chocolate chip cookies.

Phil and Laurie made room for us at the end of their table, and we had a good visit with them while eating too much food. Laurie had brought a huge Texas sheet cake, which I went back for thirds on, and Linda had provided a couple of small M and M cakes, which were quite good. We stayed for about two hours before we headed homeward. It was a good gathering.

On the way home, we went through the Valley as a change of scene from the highway. We stopped off at the covered bridge on Everett Road. I had never been there before, and in addition to the place being pretty, there were several placards giving the history of how the Cuyahoga Valley National Park was set aside as a park; the movement was spearheaded by a couple of area congressmen, and gained popular support in the late sixties and seventies. I am deeply grateful that the Valley still exists as a park; it makes living in NE Ohio special and relaxing.

Linda’s party was followed by another one on Sunday, and a party that was unique to us so far in our lives. We go to a ton of CVCA graduation parties during the summer, but this was the first one-year-later party we had ever been to. One of Mer’s former students, Sam, wanted to throw a party so he could see his CVCA friends, and he invited us. I like Sam, and I now have his bother Haydn in my CVCA Connections group, so I was excited to go.

The party was in Sam’s back yard, which is narrow and overlooks a steep drop down a tree-encrusted hill. It is very peaceful and beautiful. Sam was manning the grill, turning out chicken kabobs, and there were lots of chips and other finger foods. I had brought my cookies as my contribution, and Sam’s parents later unveiled a sundae bar. Dubbs showed up, and our former student Faith, and several others who were or had been Mer’s students. It was a merry little gathering, and we stayed for about three hours before heading home, well fed on yet another weekend.

John recently graduated from CVCA and is about to head off to Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. For the last two years, John was in my CVCA Connections group (a small group of men who met every Thursday for thirty-five minutes). John is a fantastic young man; he is funny, and talented in music, and truly wants to follow Jesus. He is pretty remarkable in my eyes. I am honored that, for whatever reason, John looks up to me and admirs me. I am at a loss as to why, but after thinking long about it, I decided to take it as a gift, and I appreciate it.

John’s father, also named John, e-mailed me last week and asked if I would join him and John at a dinner to wish John well as he went off to college. John, Sr., was assembling many of the men who were strong influences on John, Jr., and wanted to thank them with a meal, and to have us give John parting advice and a favorite Bible verse or two. I was happy to accept.

The meal was at a local diner, Eddie’s Deli and Diner, and was held last Thursday. This was a restaurant that John and his friends and several teachers would frequent on occasional Thursdays, when it was “wing night” – when you could get unlimited wings as well as soup, rolls, potato, and dessert. It’s quite a deal, and the long meal encourages fellowship. In all, there were about twelve of us. Most of the men present were CVCA faculty, but there were a couple of non-CVCA men there as well. John’s best friend and future roommate, Ben, was also there.

We put in our orders, and then John, Sr., had us go around one at a time to encourage John. We told him something we liked or admired about him, and shared a Bible verse, and gave him some advice. John, Sr., wrote everything down for John in a book for his edification when he was at college. People talked about John’s willingness to serve, and his faithfulness to his friends, and his willingness to reach out to people. Good things were said. I told John that he was a friend, and I hated to see him go. I told him that when things get rough or I get confused, I always go back to Peter’s asking Jesus, “Lord, you have the words of life. Where else shall we go?” For advice, I reminded John that  I had given him three pages of bullet points of life lessons in our last meeting in Connections.

I think the meal was good for John, but it was also good for us. There were a lot of good men at that table, and I enjoyed being there. I will miss John, but I am excited to see what he will do as he moves ahead. He has many gifts, and he is eager to serve God. That is a magical combination.

Yesterday (Wednesday) was our fourteenth wedding anniversary. We usually save the “real” celebration for a weekend so that we can be relaxed about whatever we try to do, rather than trying to cram it all in a few hours after work. Still, I decided to take a half-day off from work so Mer and I could spend the afternoon together.

I thought it would be nice to go for a walk, and on a recent drive in the Valley, I had seen a sign for a trail I had not taken before. So, in the mid-afternoon, we drove down to the Valley; Mer saw the sign and exclaimed, jokingly, “Oh, no! Not Wetmore!” It turns out I had forgotten that the Wetmore Trail was a trail we hiked over a year ago, in the spring, and the trail had been incredibly muddy and difficult to walk. I tried to reassure Mer that it would not be muddy this time, as we had had almost no rain for two months. I also told her that the lack of mud would make the hike easy. One out of two ain’t bad.

Because of the mud that had been everywhere on our first walk, I had completely forgotten that the Wetmore Trail is very hilly. Really, really hilly. And the temperature was in the mid-eighties. We got a little sweaty in places, and the trail is four miles long, which turned out to be about a mile longer than I had wanted to go (I was pretty hot and tired by the last mile). The scenery was pretty, and there was no mud. And I was with my love, so that made for a good, albeit hot, afternoon. Mer was a good sport.

I wanted to take Mer out for supper, and figuring that we would be going out to eat “for real” later, I thought it would be fun to take Mer to Cici’s, a pizza buffet. Mer had never been before, and had expressed an interest in going. So, we drove over to Streetsboro only to find that the restaurant was out of business. Rats. So, I punted to a back-up plan: going to Steak ‘n Shake. Mer was very game for that choice as well. She had forgotten that Steak ‘n Shake was a “real” restaurant (not a fast-food restaurant). So, while it was in no way a romantic spot, we both enjoyed the food and the company; we’ll find a romantic restaurant sometime soon.

On the way home, we stopped in Hudson to get separate bags of chocolates. One of the secrets to fourteen years of marriage is to get your own dessert. We took those home, and wrapped the evening up eating chocolates and watching The Big Bang Theory, followed by the Olympics.