Local flowers collected by wedding guests
A few weeks ago, we attended our niece’s wedding on the farm where Ashley grew up. We have written about the farm here before. It is a time-honored and timeless place. Our niece and her husband are living in the farmhouse where Ashley grew up, his father grew up, and his grandmother grew up.
Walking back from the field after the ceremony
Celia and Tad were married by Celia’s brother, Parker, out on the edge of a pasture on a sunny, windy, cool June day. Among the many beautiful things that happened during the three days of festivities was the reading of many unforgettable poems chosen by Celia and Tad.
On this last day of June, we share several of those poems with you. Please take them to heart as you plunge into summer. Enjoy these days to the fullest…read, rest, bask, move, love, eat, garden, float, hope.
We send each of you our best summer wishes,
Louise and Ashley
Chris, Jack, and Alden Cadwell playing the “ring game” under a photo of Ashley’s parents, Mary and John Cadwell
You are young. So you know everything. You leap
into the boat and begin rowing. But listen to me.
Without fanfare, without embarrassment, without
any doubt, I talk directly to your soul. Listen to me.
Lift the oars from the water, let your arms rest, and
your heart, and heart’s little intelligence, and listen to
me. There is life without love. It is not worth a bent
penny, or a scuffed shoe. When you hear, a mile
away and still out of sight, the churn of the water
as it begins to swirl and roil, fretting around the
sharp rocks – when you hear that unmistakable
pounding – when you feel the mist on your mouth
and sense ahead the embattlement, the long falls
plunging and steaming – then row, row for your life
toward it.
It could happen any time, tornado,
earthquake… It could happen.
Or sunshine, love, salvation.
It could, you know. That’s why we wake
and look out – no guarantees
in this life.
But some bonuses, like morning,
like right now, like noon,
like evening.
From time to time our love is like a sail
and when the sail begins to alternate
from tack to tack, it's like a swallowtail
and when the swallow flies it's like a coat;
and if the coat is yours, it has a tear
like a wide mouth and when the mouth begins
to draw the wind, it's like a trumpeter
and when the trumpet blows, it blows like millions...
and this, my love, when millions come and go
beyond the need of us, is like a trick;
and when the trick begins, it's like a toe
tip-toeing on a rope, which is like luck;
and when the luck begins, it's like a wedding,
which is like love, which is like everything.