The Trip (the good version)

2004-06-09 - 4:07 p.m.

So, I'm relatively recovered, although I'm finding myself really antisocial. I just spent almost 8 days without more than a few hours of alone time. Alone time is good!

It's hot, and it's certainly too hot to type (the cats have already expired, their poor little bodies strewn across the coolest part of the floor. I promised them it would be a beautiful funeral), but I am going to type about all the good stuff that happened, because for once my trip home didn't leave me feeling empty and miserable. Here are some of the reasons why:

-It's a beautiful city, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Even though some of the city's best sights had been wounded by hurricanes and bad weather over the last year, it's still a brilliant place to be. Trees everywhere, a fresh breeze, just an atmosphere...I have some pictures now, and I may scan and upload them to show you folks. I'm a bad picture-taker.

-My brother rocks. He's interesting to talk with, and it seems like we have more in common every time I visit. I think he's a little too pessimistic about the future, and cynical about the human race, sometimes but it's a real joy to talk with that rare cynic who's having a good time.

-I saw Harry Potter with my sister. The movie was good, the sister was better. She's turning 12 in October,and I really can't say anything more about her without gushing. I'll just say that she's bright, beautiful, and a decent person, too.

-The wedding. I'll drop point form for a moment...

I was worried about the wedding, in part because I was nervous about meeting up with those old high school friends, and in part because I was afraid that Blind Merv was making a mistake. I hadn't really spoken with the groom in a couple of years, and I hadn't heard much from the bride, and I was getting nervous.

At the wedding, though, after the priest (who may or may not have been crazy...I'll get to that, maybe, later) finished his sermon and led the pair of them to the altar, I got to see Blind Merv's face. I've never seen her look so joyful, so happy. When they kissed, I could only see her face, how beautiful she was, how elevated.

Any concern vanished. I just needed to see her happy, and to see that it was her husband that was making her happy.

Afterwards, at the reception, they asked people to come up and speak. After some worrying, I went up and told everyone a story about the groom from when they'd only been dating a year or two, where he'd had an argument with Blind Merv, and when I saw that he really did care for her and wanted to make things right. I remembered that I knew then that he was going to be around for a while, and I'm ashamed that I forgot that certainty as time went on.

Beyond that, the wedding itself was a blast. I had a small amount of anxiety at the punch bowl, mainly because I've had nightmares about getting accidently drunk, and they all came rushing at me while I held the ladel with the (presumably) non-alcoholic punch, but after that I just drank pop and water and it was all good. I also realized that whatever I sensed from my high school friends before, which had seemed very negative, was mostly gone. I think we were able to talk like people with fond, shared memories but with no further investment in each other, and I can live with that. At the least, it wasn't hard to be polite.

There's a bunch more about the trip that I want to talk about, but the heat is driving it out of my brain. I'm going to go and soak my head or something.

Cheers,

The Magus

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