Sunday afternoon in the park

Sunday afternoon, my son, Rick, married Sandy in Eugene, Oregon. The ceremony took place under a cloudless sky beneath THE cherry tree in the Owen Rose Garden on the banks of the Willamette River. (And it is one heck of a cherry tree!)

At the ceremony--which was pretty much written by Rick and Sandy except for the Oregon legal parts--the Best Man (Rick's cousin Adam) read a very brief biography that went something like this: Sandy grew up in Chicago, Rick in New Jersey. She went to college in Iowa (Grinnell) and he went to Idaho. They met in Armonk, NY on the Hudson River. She went to law school in Eugene while he went off to Iraq with the Marines and Guyana to teach. He finally returned to the US and went to Eugene to become an arborist while she graduated law school--yesterday. Today (Sunday) we are here to see them wed.

Before the ceremony: American (Neo-)Gothic.
Where's the pitchfork? (Photo by Jessica)

Most of the bridal party took pedicabs or a shuttle bus supplied by the hotel from the hotel to the park. All except Jacki, the brides sister and Maid of Honor, who was transporting a wheelchair-bound guest. She got lost getting from the hotel on one bank of the river to the park on the other. And she had lent her cell phone to someone else so she could not be contacted. That might be the reason for the pensive looks in the photo above. I trust it was not second thoughts.

Jacki did arrive some 10 minutes late and the ceremony progressed.

The wedding party was small consisting of just:

Best Man Adam (Rick's cousin)
& Maid of Honor Jacki (Sandy's sister)(Photo by Jessica)

Here comes the groom:

Terry escorted her son to the altar. (Photo by Joated)

(When Rick was in High School he was asked to write an essay on his most stressful moment--and couldn't think of a one. He failed that essay but I be he could ace it now!)

Here comes the bride!

John escorts his daughter to the altar. (Photo by Joated)

Even the preacher was a bit nervous. It was her first time officiating a wedding.

Another first timer. Annette did a fine job. (Photo by Jessica)

More later. This morning (Tuesday) Terry and I started heading east. The bugger about doing that is you lose time while covering no distance every time you cross a time zone. On the road for twelve hours today but did less than ten behind the wheel. One time zone, and some sightseeing (John Day Fossil Beds) accounted for the rest. I'll have more to say on that and more from the reception tomorrow.