A Wedding in the Family!

One of my cousins got married on Sunday, and I was excited for so many reasons!

• It had been delayed a year because of the pandemic, so I was happy for my cousin that it was finally happening.
• I have a great memory of this same cousin at our own wedding 18 years ago.
• This was the first wedding that Edith and Atticus were to attend!

It was every bit as lovely as I expected. The ceremony and reception were near Detroit, in a beautiful outdoor setting overlooking the Detroit River. (Edith said she never knew a wedding could be so fancy!) Boats drifted by, and seaplanes flew within plain view seemingly feet away. The food was terrific, and I will be dreaming of the chocolate truffles and the frosting on that wedding cake for days. (Was it buttercream? But can buttercream be so light? I NEED TO KNOW.)

The kids were surprisingly fond of the dance floor, and we ended up leaving at 10 p.m. instead of our plan of 9 p.m. With a three-hour drive ahead of us, that was no small change! But we were enjoying ourselves too much, and we had packed the kids' pajamas, pillows and blankets in the car. They slept the entire three-hour drive home.

But best of all it was great seeing family, and adding a new member to it!

A Short but Magical Trip to the Grand Canyon (with Kids)

The Grand Canyon was the next stop on our 10-day tour of the Southwest. It was about a six-hour drive from Albuquerque, and the scenery was all mountains and (I think) mesas, with little greenery. The one exception was Flagstaff, which seemed like a veritable rainforest in comparison. In addition, I'd never seen so many trains in my life. Interstate 40 runs parallel to miles and miles of tracks, and it's hard to estimate how many trains we saw in both directions, and up close. 

Aside from a lunch break, we made two other quick stops: a sign for the Continental Divide (who knew any water drained to the Atlantic Ocean from this far west?) and Winslow, Ariz., to take some photos of us taking it easy "standin' on the corner." There was a mural and everything.

Once we were at the Grand Canyon, we checked in to the Yavapai Lodge, just a 10-15 minute walk from the south rim of the canyon. We stayed in one of several buildings (each holding a small number of rooms with exits directly to the outside) with a few chairs right outside our door.

We immediately set out to walk along the Trail of Time to the Yavapai Geology Museum. The views were breathtaking -- a cliche but true. And the cliff is *right there.* The kids jumping around made Paul very nervous, and I wasn't much better. They held our hands for a good portion of the walk. We caught part of the sunset, but I think the clouds foiled the best views. Still the differences between 6 p.m. and the 7 p.m. shadows were superb.

After the kids were in bed and asleep, Paul and I headed to those chairs just outside our room and watched shooting stars before clouds covered the sky. Another cliche, but it really was quite magical.

The next day was Friday the 13th, but the only thing that was unlucky were the slight sunburns we got from our walk along the Rim Trail. The time change gave us an advantage that morning, as we were out the door by 7 a.m. The Rim Trail to Hermit's Rest was practically empty -- it felt like we had the whole canyon to ourselves for a good two to three hours. We walked maybe 4 miles along the rim, interspersed with shuttle rides. The trail was beautiful but nerve-wracking with two kids ages 8 and 6. We skipped the vast majority of the unpaved portion since we couldn't quite trust the kids.

We were done with the trail by noon, took a shuttle to the transfer station and walked the part of the trail that passes by most of the hotels. This was far busier but not too bad. We were back at our lodge about 1 p.m. in the heat of the day (high 80s, after a beautiful morning that was cool and partly cloudy), so we stayed in the room for a couple of hours.

Next was the drive to Desert View, with stops at a few viewpoints to and from. The watchtower view was closed thanks to Covid, but the scenery was unaffected, of course.

That evening we went to an outdoor talk at the McKee Amphitheater about the lore surrounding the Grand Canyon. Atticus fell asleep by the end, but I'm still glad we went -- Edith counted it as among her favorite memories of the Grand Canyon.

The next morning we were off by 8:30 a.m., with one last viewpoint before leaving Grand Canyon National Park, heading west toward Los Angeles.

The 4th Annual Crap Swap

The Crap Swap and Potluck that I host each year is, I think, eagerly anticipated by a certain type of person.

Not only by those of us who aspire to be minimalists, but also by those who like a good deal.

The Crap Swap is the annual chance for all of my neighbors and friends to unload their unneeded junk with minimal inconvenience to themselves. And this year it was minimally inconvenient for me, too.

Usually I allow everyone to drop off their crap in the days and weeks beforehand, and I set it all up. Because the event has grown with each passing year, this time almost everyone set up their own crap. We filled something like six card tables and five folding tables, heaped with clothing, toys and household goods. Other sections of the yard and driveway were reserved (and overflowing) with large items, like scooters, a filing cabinet, a bookcase and an air compressor.

The swap attracts people from throughout the neighborhood, and everything is FREE. That gives everyone a chance to collect stuff not only for themselves but for the charities of their choice. Everything leftover goes to a local thrift store.

The weather was predicted to be ideal all week before the Sept. 4 swap, but it didn't hold. Off-and-on showers happened all evening and almost certainly lowered the number of visitors. Nevertheless we had only about 20 small-ish boxes of crap leftover at the end of the day, and after a couple of days at the curb, that number dropped to 14 boxes. A couple of neighbors graciously hauled them to VOA after the holiday weekend.

I'm already thinking about ways to improve the Crap Swap next year, like always. But the real question is: why do we have so much crap each and every year?!