Love and Snow

This past weekend I traveled down to Detroit to preside at Emma's and Rob's wedding.  The ceremony was held at the Martha Mary Chapel on the grounds of the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village.  The Chapel, which sits on the edge of the Greenfield Village complex, honors not the sisters of biblical fame, but Henry Ford's mother and mother-in-law.  It has long been a picturesque venue for couples celebrating their nuptials.

Martha Mary Chapel

This ceremony marked a milestone for me.  In 1984, shortly after I graduated from seminary and started work as curate at Christ Church-Detroit, I presided at my first wedding — of Bethany and David, Emma's parents!  My ministry has finally become multi-generational!

Most weddings are the product of months of careful planning.  The goal is that everything on this Special Day be perfect.  But it's the imperfections which make such a day truly memorable, and which provide a few laughs as the decades roll by.  On Saturday, the string quartet which provided music for the ceremony missed its cue and launched into a lovely but misplaced piece immediately after the vows, thereby stepping on my declaration that Emma and Rob were now husband and wife.  Couple and priest froze in position.  When the music finally subsided and I started the declaration, Rob in his enthusiasm decided that the time for the kiss had come at last.  I whispered for him to wait, and the entire congregation dissolved in laughter.

During my absence, Presque Isle was hammered by a major snowstorm.  I haven't seen the official stats, but snowfall at my home was at least 8 inches.  Part of the precipitation was ice or an icy snow.  Today all the trees are heavily encased in snow and ice, which is absolutely luminous under today's bright sun.  Happily, no trees in my area have fallen on power lines.

Snow has slipped off the sun-warmed skylight.

The side yard, looking toward Lake Esau.

My driveway, looking toward Kauffman Blvd.

It has also been quite cold... just 6 degrees at bedtime last night.  Tomorrow the temperature should be in the 40s!  Go figure.  •••