The Redding Wedding

We drove all day, from Redlands, California to Redding, California to see these two give themselves to each other in holy matrimony. I have a jillion pictures and as many memories, but in short - I am thrilled with my SD Margi's new husband, Paul.

Grandma and Grandpa Campbell celebrate with a round on the dance floor. I will spare you - I have over 500 photos. Ah, the new horizons and dilemmas of digital photography.

Granddaughter Alexia decided that her new cousin Elise must be a princess because she wore a beautiful dress and tiara during the wedding. She followed Elise everywhere, like an adoring puppy.

The princess has changed from her wedding clothes, lost her tiara and glass slippers and still Alexia is her adoring fan. How simple are the illusions of the young, unjaded eye.

After the wedding, 18 of us stayed at the Shasta Lake House at the north end of Shasta Lake. It was a bit of a squeeze and involved a pre-wedding meal at the Basshole Bar and Restaurant, mostly bar.

Bad food, bad service, almost made us late for the wedding and we'll never forget it. It was the restaurant name that made everyone want to eat there. Now we say we got bassholed.

This is the only picture I have of that experience. I thought it an odd way to deal with electrical wiring, but more odd is that I have no other pictures. I was tired. We had a wonderful time, playing dice, ping-pong and pool in the game room and otherwise, just sharing and being family.

My book group met to discuss Jane Austen's Persuasion Tuesday night. Tuesday was my first day back to work after vacation. I hadn't finished the book until that morning and was convinced on my commute that we'd be done in ten minutes. After all, what was there to discuss. During the day I was able to read some background materials and came away with an appreciation for Austen's ability to deliver a window into the culture and mores of that time.

Where I had loved Pride and Prejudice, I found this book a slog, but then it's probably not good vacation reading. The group loved it and appreciated how Austen showed us the decline of the landed gentry and the new fortunes and prospects of moneyed military, returning after the war of 1812. "To the Manor Born" was fading as quickly as their money, along with its vanity.

The circumstances that set the stage are because Sir Walter Elliot, baronet of Kellynch Hall, has been unable to curb his spending and can no longer live within his means which necessitates a change in living arrangements. "Vanity was the beginning and the end of Sir Walter Elliot's character; vanity of person and of situation." What descriptive writing! No wonder whole courses are offered on just Jane Austen. One of our group commented that it took five lines of dialogue to say one simple thing - "Why didn't they just say what they mean?" she asked. To my surprise, I ended up enjoying the book, after the fact.