Planning A Wedding

A complex rhyme scheme in a simple poem:

My little dog knows just as much

As lots of people do.

He can’t do sums or three times three,

But what’s  the use of sums and such

I never really knew.

Of course he ain’t a cherubim,

He’s playful as can be!

He don’t shut doors or wipe his feet,

And maybe he’s not always neat;

But people that don’t care for him

Don’t hafter care for me.

                  - Burges Johnson

Had a great interview yesterday with a wedding planner.  Actually, he’s mostly one of those Internet-licensed ministers – he got the license so he could preside over his daughter’s wedding (at her request) but in the four or five years since, he’s married about four hundred couples. He will also help a couple find a venue and give other advice.  He told great stories, some sad, some funny, some touching.  He’s going to be a great resource for the story of Rafael and Godwin’s wedding. 

We’re going to Florida the end of this month, and I’ve been doing some last-minute inquiries about stopping in needlework shops to do some signings – the paperback version of Darned If You Do is about to appear.  So far, only one place has come back with a Yes.  It’s the Stitchin Post in Nashville, on Saturday, February 20.  And so long as we’re going to Nashville, we’re also going to the Grand Ole Opry.  When I was a wee little girl, four or five years old, I can remember my father in the bedroom in the evening, hunched over a radio, trying to keep the signal from the Grand Ole Opry strong enough so he could hear the music.  I can still remember Minnie Pearl’s comic greeting: “How-DEE! Ah’m jest so proud to be here!”  My mother was not at all a fan, and neither was I – so much of it seemed to be about people behaving badly – until maybe the last ten or twelve years.  (Though I do remember we watched Tennessee Ernie Ford’s variety show back in the fifties, even my mother.)  Now when I’m out and about, I might tune into our local Classical Music station, or talk radio, or one of the several country music stations in our area.  I’ve outgrown rock and don’t like hip-hop or the other iterations of modern music, and sometimes I want some music I can understand.

In Florida, we’re taking a catamaran boat from Fort Myers to Key West.  I’ve never been to Key West but have wanted to go there for a long time.  I have a sister who lives near Fort Myers, and two nieces I’d like to see as well.  We’re not going to be gone long, probably just long enough to get a sunburned nose.