7:10 am
There is a winter storm warning for central Maryland in effect from ten a.m. today through ten p.m. tomorrow. Meteorologists predict two to four inches of snow by tonight, eighteen to twenty-four inches in all, and blizzard conditions. Schools throughout the region will be closing two hours early so that students are home long before the worst comes.
The arc of the storm from Texas to the Mid-Atlantic states looks like the Bad Weather Demon googled directions from the Lone Star State to my address. Once the storm clears us, it pretty well heads out to sea.
Yesterday was spent thinking and rethinking our plans. A call to the florist turned up the surprising news that the Flower Lady’s husband is a former priest who is licensed to perform marriages. The Clerk of the Circuit Court had already indicated that he believed a bad storm would make it impossible for him to get to our house. One alternative scenario involved the Former Priest and a candlelight ceremony tonight. Another rescheduled the ceremony in March when the grandson at college will be home on Spring Break and I, too, will be on vacation. A couple of calls to my Dear One’s daughter who is organizing the caravanning of her family and her sister down here left plans in limbo by the time we retired last night.
MG, who came over to help me sort through bridal couture and decide on clothing, shoes and jewelry has left a note on my email: “Are you changing your plans? I’ve been thinking and thinking about you.”
9:58 am
Our Astronomer and Dear One’s Younger Daughter called and I put us on speaker phone. Nothing but safety, not even the Super Bowl, could trump our wedding, they said. How did we feel about rescheduling for Sunday?
We looked at each other and nodded. Why yes, that would work, that would work very well. DOYD said she would call Elder Daughter; I said I will call with confirming details presently.
Left a message for the CotCC on his cell phone at eight. Called the office at nine-thirty and left a somewhat more urgent message. Apparently he keeps his own hours although he does check his voice mail regularly. If the CotCC is unavailable, then a call to the Former Priest is next.
3:24 pm
We have someone to officiate. We have flowers. We have a limousine. We have a dinner reservation for a party of ten. We have a cake. The champagne is properly chilled. We have no regrets about preempting family plans to attend Super Bowl parties.
By 12:15, we still had not heard from the CotCC so we called the Former Priest. The Former Priest is currently a funeral director and is on call on Sunday which means he can’t make any commitments of any kind should he be needed. Called the CotCC to nag and he picked right up. No problem, he said. My four-wheel-drive should get me through whatever drifts remain on Sunday. Worst possibly scenario, he chuckled, I’ll just phone it in. The officiant at a wedding in Maryland doesn’t technically have to be at the wedding, you see. The rites can be conducted via telephone.
Wasn’t that an episode on M*A*S*H? I’m pretty sure it was. I remember quite well the bris for a Korean-American baby boy, rabbi on short-wave radio, Hawkeye Pierce wielding scalpel.
The snow which we were assured would start in mid-morning finally appeared about quarter to three. It looks rather peaceful out there, as the flakes fall steadily.
Today I saw a red-shoulder hawk settle into an enormous nest in the upper branches of a battered tree. Not long after, her mate parked himself on a nearby bough. Erik and Erika, The Reds, are in residence and preparing for a family. It is a good omen for my Dear One and Me.
The new date is February 7 and we have less than forty-eight hours to matrimony.