Time out for a Vermont wedding

(I'll finish the China writings soon, I hope, but first I must tell you about the wedding we attended this past week.)

On Wednesday Ken and I left early for Waterbury, Vermont. Waterbury and its neighbor, Stowe, are located southeast of Burlington in a beautiful area of the state. I guess most areas of Vermont are beautiful, but this area is especially so. We'd never been to Waterbury or Stowe until this week. The drive from our home took about four hours.

The wedding was held Thursday evening at Hen of the Wood restaurant. Wow! What a picture-perfect location for a small, intimate wedding, what an amazing back-drop for a wedding on the patio, and what amazing food.

When we received the wedding invitation a month or two ago, I wondered why the restaurant was named "Hen of the Wood." That seemed to me to be a rather unusual name for a restaurant...or any establishment. A few days later I was watching a show on a cooking channel, and the host was out foraging for wild mushrooms. His day was made when he spotted a rare and especially prized "hen of the woods" mushroom. Who knew.

This was the view behind the bride and groom, Janessa and Erik, as they said their vows on the restaurant's back patio.

Erik is the older son of our very special friends, Jim and Lynn. We've known Erik since the day he was born. He's one of the finest human beings I know, always kind and thoughtful. Ken and I were thrilled to be invited to his wedding, given that the guest list included only sixteen family and friends.

I had to snap this picture of Erik, on the right, with his brother, Karl. They're showing off their pink-and-purple argyle socks. Their matching ties, with pink and purple, had already been selected when the guys decided coordinating socks were a must. Karl phoned his mother and asked her to try to find some socks "with pink and purple in them, maybe even an argyle." When Lynn told me of this assignment, I thought, "What are the chances, really, of finding pink and purple argyle socks?"

Lynn went to Macy's and there, waiting for her, were pink and purple argyle socks on sale. The rest is history.

Here are the bride and groom. What a couple! They'll move from San Francisco to Washington, DC, this summer, where Erik will begin a two-year course at George Washington University to become a physician assistant. He's perfectly suited to this field.

Best wishes for a wonderful life together, Erik and Janessa.