love

5" x  7"
reserved for g. conklin

what's more american than baseball?  well i don't know, how about hotdogs? cheeseburgers? television?  no, i got it....weddings?  yep.  weddings.   we americans go to great lengths to make our weddings an extension of ourselves.  we express ourselves through fancy attire, table settings, the menu, the guests in attendance, the music, the ceremony, and all the other rituals that go along with it.  according to various internet news sources, the average american couple spends close to 30 G's on their wedding! yes: it's true:  thirty-freakin-thousand-dollars! that could feed a lot of hungry mouths, not to mention pay my mortgage for quite some time, or even send some kid to college.  all this, for the sake of love?  not to mention, statistically, 40% of those marriages will end in divorce.  hogwash!!  money doesn't grow on trees, and neither does love. shit, we're cutting down all the trees anyways to make houses for all our babies...  we americans better re-prioritize quick--or we're all gonna go broke.

 today, when i attended the sweet little backyard forest wedding of todd and vanessa, i was charmed. it was simple, and elegant.  the ceremony was ministered by a close friend, the flowers were living and growing in pots to be planted in the future, the food was homemade by the loving hands of family and friends, and instead of cake there were fresh seasonal berry pies.  it reminded my a tad of my own wedding, which happened six years ago tomorrow: something homespun, authentic, fun and easy, without the unnecessary bells and whistles:  something that truly celebrates the organic nature of love.