To Michigan and a Wedding

It was in June of last year that Susie and I headed back to the Midwest, Michigan in fact, to attend Jane and Dave's wedding. If you know these two, you know the story, if you don't it's been recounted elsewhere on this blog. This time, it's another wedding, in late May instead of June, in Grand Rapids instead of Holland and family instead of friends. Specifically, it's the wedding of our niece Rachel, third and youngest daughter of Susie's younger sister Joyce and her husband Carl.

Susie flew out of Boston this afternoon, having been escorted to Logan Airport by Peter Pan (of the bus line and not of Neverneverland fame). She will stay with her mom for the next three days and spend most of that time baking delicious treats for the wedding -- I'm bringing three cookies and slabs of cut brownies; Susie will be working on various almond-base cakes and a choux puff delicacy that I can't wait to taste and photograph.  

Rachel at Christina's wedding, nearly a decade ago:

Rachel at her sister Melissa's wedding, almost seven years ago:

Anyway, she's there and I'm here (old story, eh?) until Friday early AM when I pack the car with my gear, point the nose of the A4 toward I-90 and head toward the "Winter Wonderland" or whatever the motto is today for the Peninsula State. I'll be posting photos and details of the Michigan trip and the wedding, right here next week.

The weekend before Susie fly out of Boston we drove north to Cambridge, MA, and spent a beautiful afternoon strolling the grounds of Mt. Auburn Cemetery in preparation for a lovely concert late in the afternoon in Story Chapel at the cemetery. (Photo above: "Willy, Mary and Charlie.") Two clarinetists and a pianist played works by Brahms, Mendelssohn and Schumann, a fitting end to a gorgeous day of appreciating life -- as others were doing as well. As we walked back toward the chapel following out tour we came across a photo shoot with several women dressed as brides. Not surprising since the cemetery now makes it incredible gardens and two chapels available for weddings. One has to appreciate a certain symmetry if not harmony in all of this.

Work keeps me both engaged and busy -- commencement ceremonies this weekend at Johnson & Wales, after that summer kicks in. Susie continues to work on growing her future in the wacky world of pastry and desserts -- God only knows what's in store for her in that regard, but if the past is any indication of the future the coming weeks and months will be interesting indeed.