Blessed

I wrote the last post specifically for any who might think that my post about feeling sad meant that I’d lost my faith or my ability to see the good in my life.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  Indeed, I think that hard times often bring into sharper focus the greatest blessings in your life, so that you see more clearly what is good, what is pure, what is true.  And so often, you find that the very things you thought important are trivial and the things you thought trivial are important. 

So, rest assured that I am still mindful of my blessings—big and small.   And one of the big ones happened just recently…when Ariel got herself hitched. 

Yes, that’s right…our baby girl got married.  It was a lovely wedding, though there were glitches, including a heavy downpour just as they started saying the vows.  We were all soaked (except for the bride and groom), and I will forever be immortalized in the wedding pictures as mother-0f-the-bride looking like a drowned rat.  But what I’ll remember best is the way Cameron and Ariel looked at each other–with pure and unadulturated love.   And that’s all that matters really.

Ariel and her doting Daddy (Tom’s hair was wet from the downpour, but he still looks handsome, I think. And Ariel, of course, is beautiful)

I’ve mentioned before what an…umm…unconventional family we are (which is probably obvious from my unconventional blog).  So before I got to know Cameron (a UNC-CH graduate, like Ariel), I worried that he might not fit into our family or, even worse, find us weird.  But after spending time with him, my fears were somewhat assuaged and I began to believe that he was just quirky enough (and accepting of our quirks) to fit in just fine. 

But it was the cows that completely put all my fears to rest.

Shortly after he and Ariel got engaged, they came for a visit.  But Cameron did not come empty-handed.  No indeed. He came bearing gifts.  He came with cattle, to be exact—two of them.  Holsteins—a fine bull and heifer. 

I looked at them and said, “I don’t know, Cameron.  Sure, these are fine cattle—healthy and strong.  But I think she’s worth a dowry of at least three bovines.”  I was going to milk this for all it was worth.  I was udderly shameless. 

But Cameron was not cowed.  He smiled and reminded me that a dowry is actually what the bride’s parents give the groom’s family.  His two cattle, he said,  were the bride price.  Yep, that Cameron is a smart one, for sure.

Oh dear.  A dowry.  I hadn’t figured on this.  What could we possibly offer?  And then I remembered my apple nut bread.  Cameron loves the stuff, even better than my oatmeal cookies.  So we quickly struck a deal that promised a lifetime supply of apple bread, and Tom and I graciously accepted the Holsteins as our bride price, though I still think Ariel is a three-bovine girl.

And now, Ariel and Cameron are back from their honeymoon and happy in their comfy newlywed nest.  And the bull and heifer are happy, too, grazing in our mountain pasture.  They love how the grass grows so high and lush around here.

But our fine bovines are a bit wary about the animal life in these hills.   Can’t really blame them if they steer clear of some critters here.  After all, a few of them are…well…real dodoes. 🙂

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