Our latest adventure involved a fair amount of travel as it included two cities, in two countries, transiting through yet another city on the way, all in the space of five days! We crammed a lot of adventure, some of it even unexpected but nevertheless wonderful, into a small space of time.
Departure and Arrival
We left for NYC on a Monday morning and arrived right on time. We had booked a car in advance but the way that service works requires you to call when you land and then they dispatch a car, this despite knowing in advance what flight you are on, arrival times, etc. Usually, this requires a wait of maybe 10-15 minutes, but this time we waited up to 30 minutes and the car didn’t show. Finally the driver called, he was stuck in traffic. Then he called again to say he had come past our terminal but didn’t see us. Nor did we see him since he was driving a tan sedan similar to something a suburban granny might drive, certainly not the black Town Car I had paid for. I was less than pleased and the driver wasn’t pleased with his minimal tip. The car service made the dreadful mistake of asking for a survey on their service. You can bet I filled it out. While we waited we saw innumerable Uber service cars, most all of them very nice black Toyota Corolla and even black Toyota SUVs as well. Turns out Uber helps drivers finance these cars, which the drivers then own free and clear, unlike driving a cab where all you own in the end is your hemorrhoids. We vowed, next time we land in NYC, we are Uber-ing it to the hotel!
We thought we knew what hotel we were at but we were off by one block. Hilton has several different branded properties right in the same area so it can get confusing. We are tending to stay in the Chelsea area because it is less hectic yet still close to transit, walkable to Broadway shows, and has a few decent late night dining options nearby. We like it much more than Midtown.
Monday, Monday
We had no specific plans for Monday night so we just did some hanging out after a nap. We wandered around for hours looking for some late night food before settling for an upscale diner down on 14th Street. 14th Street and Union Square, where 14th crosses Broadway, was not the best of areas back in the late 1980s and early 1990s when it was practically the center of my world based on school and work. But today, I would hardly recognize it as the technology revolution has somewhat centered itself in the area making it very upscale, trendy, and of course, expensive as well. But this is now true of much of the City and little remains the same.
Back to Broadway
Our sole reason for being in NYC again so soon was to see Darren Criss play the lead role in Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Yes, we had seen the show before but since it is, in essence, a one-man show, the lead actor really makes it what it is. Many people know Darren Criss from his portrayal of Blaine, Kurt’s love interest, on Fox’s Glee. Darren also performed at the Academy Awards and he is clearly an actor with a great range of talents and ability including a stunning voice. Honestly, I like his versions of many of the songs he sings far better than the original. Sorry Ms. Perry… So, when we heard that Darren was the next to play Hedwig, we booked it. Our show was toward the end of Darren’s run, in fact the following Sunday would be his last performance. We saw him on Tuesday evening. Suffice it to say it was completely wonderful! We have long enjoyed the movie of Hedwig but nothing really beats seeing it live. Hedwig would play a very important role later in the week, but I didn’t know this at the time. Nor did I know that one of the songs/stories from Hedwig, the Origin of Love, is actually taken almost directly from Plato’s Symposium. I think it speaks loudly of how much more progressive the Greek culture was in reference to different sexualities than is the world we live in presently.
Onward to Canada
We were scheduled to fly on to Ottawa, the capital city of Canada on Wednesday morning, but for reasons not entirely clear to me, Delta only flies to Ottawa from Detroit, twice a day. There are direct flights to and from Ottawa via Atlanta, on Saturdays, but only in the winter. The idea is for snow-bound Canadians to move through Atlanta on their way to somewhere warm and sunny. In the summer, what is the point? Summer weather is delightful all over Canada. Warm, but not generally sweltering. Why leave?
But, as sometimes happens with airline travel, the airline had different ideas than we did. There was a delay on the inbound aircraft, coming from Florida, and that set off a chain reaction for us. As we moved farther back in time, our limited time original connection in Detroit, only about an hour, came closer and closer to not being remotely possible. Had we called mere minutes earlier to the Delta Diamond Medallion Desk, we could have jumped on to the 9:00am flight from La Guardia to Detroit that was operating on time. But, because we called about 43 minutes before departure they could not rebook us due to some rules claiming to be in response to 9/11.
A TSA Digression
Now, while the events of that day were terrible, the response, á la TSA, is a joke. TSA fails over 90% of the random checks they undergo where employees posing as passengers take contraband right through the checkpoints, including loaded firearms. TSA is obsessed, simply obsessed, with your boarding pass (I use the electronic one just to deny them the pleasure of writing all over it in highlighter pen) and yet, the hijackers that day had boarding passes, they had valid identification, and they did not carry anything through the screening point that they were not allowed to have. You can’t screen for homicidal will. And in reality, if you want to do serious damage to an airport, blow yourself up at the check-in counter. Reality is that NOTHING short of canceling all flights will ever make air travel 100% secure from a determined individual or group. TSA is a farce intended to lull you into security and it is a great employment vehicle for the otherwise unemployable. And, further to my point, the hijackers did not change their flight, not ever, and certainly not 45 minutes before flight.
Back to the Airport
Tim made a dash to stand-by on the 9am, but First was already closed with upgrades, we missed that window by minutes as well, and as we had paid for First we were not going to wash that and sit in Coach. So, we missed our connection to Ottawa and were double backed up on several flights to Detroit, which caused the Delta apps on our phones to simply fry and fail because they were not engineered to handle these kind of complexities, regardless of what Delta claims.
We did eventually take off for Detroit, about two hours late, but we left and I wasn’t too worried because when I booked the short connection it was with the knowledge that there was a second flight if something caused us to miss the first one. I don’t fault an airline for the weather, which is what caused the delay, although I have seen and heard many an angry traveler do exactly that. But I was disappointed in the flight crew on our Detroit flight. They knew that a plane full of passengers, including those with connections, as Detroit is a Delta hub, were waiting for hours, they knew connections had been blown, and for at least an hour, the frazzled gate agent had been telling us that we were waiting for the flight attendants, as it was obvious that the plane and the pilots were there. So, over a hundred waiting people were treated to sight of the flight attendants, finally, sauntering over to the gate, with Starbucks and sandwiches in hand, in absolutely no apparent hurry or concern, because what the hell, they gettin’ paid anyway, why should they hurry their sweet asses up? They should have at least pretended to be in a hurry, and to hide their meals which none of the passengers could get, so as to create even the illusion of a better customer service experience. Sadly, even the greatest company in the world will look poor when even one employee who represents that company has a poor attitude when it comes to customer service. And that is exactly what happened in LaGuardia Airport with those flight attendants. They tarnished Delta as a company with their lackadaisical attitude and indifference to the situation confronting dozens of passengers flying their airline, passengers without whom there are no flights, and therefore not any flight attendant jobs. They really ought to think about that more often than they seem to do.
We landed in Detroit and had plenty of time to get to our new gate, way out at the end of the C concourse, from which the tiny planes fly. While Delta flies in and out of Ottawa twice a day, they only take 50 passengers maximum at a time, so the plane is quite tiny, with only three seats across, the smallest plane that Delta bothers to fly, and it is actually flown by another company on behalf of Delta, even though the plane and everything in it says Delta Connection. The crews who fly these small planes for connection carriers are grossly overworked and underpaid, some of them living in parents’ basements and working odd jobs at 7-11 because they make less than $30,000 a year. They are also frequently tired and more likely to make fatal mistakes than mainline crews, but sometimes, to get to smaller cities, you take your chances, although I admit that a connection carrier flight is never my first choice.
Detroit Lay-over
One of the things that baffle me about the Detroit airport is that it is simply architecturally stunning. The only airport I have been in that even comes close is perhaps Inchon, in the Republic of Korea. The Detroit airport has high ceilings, massive amounts of windows, incredible views of the parked planes, and an overall feeling of light and air. Atlanta, and even worse LaGuardia and JFK, feel very cramped, too small, low-ceilinged, almost claustrophobic, and while LAX has improved, it isn’t world class by any means. And the reason this surprises me is that, as most everyone knows I think, Detroit is a totally bankrupt, decaying, and dying city that somehow has an amazing airport. There are some signs of recovery in Detroit, but the jobs, and the economy that once was, are gone forever, and unfortunately that means that most desperate of the city’s residents will remain passed over in the new economic world that Detroit may come to inhabit. So, while I wouldn’t recommend visiting Detroit the city, if you ever happen to have a connection going through there, don’t bemoan the stop, instead book your connection for a few hours so you can really enjoy and soak in the beauty and wonder that is Detroit Wayne International Airport!
Ottawa
The Ottawa Airport is very state of the art, quite modern, and also very small. Almost all routes into the airport are serviced with small planes, and aside from connections coming from US airline hubs, all international flights will have arrived elsewhere requiring international passengers to make connections in more worldly cities such as Toronto or Montreal. Canadian Customs and Immigration consisted of three people, but the planes are small, and it was after 9pm, so no big deal. Everyone, including Canadians, goes through the same line, unlike in larger Canadian airports where Canadian citizens just use entry kiosks. I wanted the bearded agent but instead ended up with the one female officer. Customs and immigration officers the world over are almost universally unfriendly and gruff (only the Russians are worse than the United States officers in this regard in my extensive experience), even Canadian ones, but every once in a while you hit the odd one in a good mood who wants to chat. That was our officer, but not as chatty as the one at London Heathrow who talked to me at great length about Chaucer. This one was chatty about the weather, which she called hot, but clearly she doesn’t know Georgia hot and humid, but still asked the questions such people always do. Why are you here, how long, where are you staying, what have you been arrested for in the US, etc. etc. etc. And of course, knowing America, they want to make sure you know that in Canada handguns are just not OK, concealed or not. Rifles for hunting something other than people, yeah, that MIGHT be OK, but nothing else, and they mean it.
We did a Canadian Uber to the hotel, which was very fast. My experience of Uber in NYC and Ottawa was that the same people who drive cabs now drive Uber. Almost always an immigrant from a country where motor vehicles are beyond the reach of the average citizen, meaning they have likely never driven extensively before becoming a cab driver, have limited knowledge of American English, and are a bit vague about traffic norms in our country. It can make for adventurous trips even after you land.
We had changed reservations from the Hilton property, which was not near anything (the other Hilton choice was at a casino across the river in Quebec) to the Lord Elgin Hotel. It was a grand place, probably older, but very well maintained with uniformed doormen and such. Our room was enormous, especially coming from the closets labeled hotel rooms in NYC. We got lost that night looking for food, but we found it eventually, a small diner in the ByWard Market area, which I would guess was once a run-down industrial area that has been remade into a lively shopping and eating area, which features fresh produce growers and vendors (as the sign says, growers only sell what they grow, vendors sell what others grow…just in case you were not sure). We would pick up some wonderful local berries there the next day.
Homeless, in Canada?
But, sadly, the other thing that there were plenty of in Ottawa, especially around the ByWard Market, were homeless people asking for money. This doesn’t really fit with my idealized vision of Canada and I was disappointed. It has become rare, although I don’t know why for certain, to see homeless people begging in NYC, so perhaps they all moved up to Canada for the summer. I had guessed, apparently incorrectly, that Canada had a better social safety net that would prevent such desperate situations. Of course, I don’t know the back stories of anyone I saw on the streets, and maybe they are there not because of strictly economic factors but because of behavioral choices around drug or alcohol abuse, or perhaps as is so often true in the United States, they are mental health patients who have been turfed from care on the mistaken belief that psychotropic medications will solve everything, and maybe they would, but a paranoid personality type simply won’t take medication unsupervised. So, who knows what combination of factors contribute to it, but when in Ottawa at least, be prepared for many requests for your “spare change.” I am not sure what constitutes “spare change.” Is it money I don’t intend to spend myself because I have an excess? If so, that simply isn’t me. Although I confess that I left a $5 bill with the man whose sign said he was HIV+. And yes, he could have been lying for sympathy, but regardless, what I gave him, technically, wasn’t change, not in any sense of the word, a fact I am aware of as well.
Chinese in Ottawa
Our first full day in Ottawa we, or at least I, was awakened by the sounds of a marching band passing outside our hotel window.
Changing of the Guard Parade Ottawa
That seemed odd until I realized that the route for the band that is part of the changing of the guard ceremony in front of Parliament passes directly by our hotel, every day. It was a colorful sight to wake up to. Once we were up and moving, we headed into Ottawa Chinatown. I am a huge fan of the Cantonese delicacy of dim sum, which essentially are small dishes of various, usually steamed, dumplings. The fillings are often shrimp, also pork, but you can be more adventurous and just get the chicken feet by themselves. I have done this, but honestly I couldn’t find much to eat. I think I have established that I will eat most anything at least once, but I truly enjoy dim sum. Tim isn’t a big fan because the wrappers are carbohydrate laden, so he peels the outside off and eats the filling. I don’t know where to get this treat in Atlanta, but it is usually easy to find in Canadian cities that have a Chinatown of any sort. Ottawa qualified and perhaps it is odd that we traditionally, when in Canada, eat a variety of ethnic foods including Indian, Chinese, and Middle Eastern, but if you have ever eaten more traditional Canadian food, you would quickly understand why. Canadian home cooking is very British, tends towards the very bland, the boiled, the overcooked, and just bad. Quebec does better sometimes because of the French influence, but the most famous Quebecois dish is the poutine, which consists of a mound of French fries, covered in glutinous brown gravy that is liberally sprinkled with cheese curd. It is a heart attack on plate and I don’t even think it tastes good. So, Chinese it is.
Supreme Court and Parliament
We returned via the Supreme Court
Supreme Court of Canada
which is an impressive building as you would expect, but it is also quite modern when compared to the stone walls and copper roofs of the main parliament buildings, which was our next stop. We strolled around the front of the Parliament
Canadian Parliament
to view the eternal flame and fountain which highlights each province and its respective date of admission into the confederation of Canada, built and dedicated on the 100th anniversary, 1967, of the original confederation.
Eternal Flame of Confederation
We continued around to the right and up, taking in a close up view of Elizabeth the Second sitting on a horse, a so called equestrian statue, which commemorates the 125th anniversary of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. I was thinking that we would try to find the rather famous stray cat sanctuary that exists on Parliament Hill, which houses exactly what the name says it does, but Tim had other ideas.
What In the World Is Going On?
We were seated in front of Parliament on a bench when suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, Tim becomes a fountain of knowledge about the history of gay marriage in Canada. He had dates down to the day of when the bill passed Commons, then through the appointed Canadian Senate, and finally when it received royal assent via the Governor General. I was, I admit, rather baffled, because detailed Canadian history really isn’t one of Tim’s many strengths, so I realized he had done some serious research and memorization. But why would he do this?
Differing Views of Marriage
It would seem logical that he might be leading up to a marriage proposal but just weeks before we had a serious discussion on our living room sofa during which Tim was adamant that he wanted no part of marriage ever, period. Part of this stance, I believe, is that Tim was married once, 25 years ago, and it didn’t end well in the sense that it ended in divorce following the infidelity of his then wife. And while I realize that had to hurt, it also was a huge favor to him. Tim was living the life he believed he was EXPECTED to live. He had been raised to believe certain things and to expect certain things in his life. So, he followed the path he was taught, did what was expected with no regard for his personal happiness, and married a woman. He could have been stuck in such a life to this day, perhaps even saddled with children he never wanted, had he not ultimately had a lucky break in a cheating wife. I know Tim well enough to believe that once he had made a commitment, and especially if there were kids involved, he would have stuck with it even if he wasn’t happy because that is the sort of person he tends to be, reliable and trustworthy even in the face of personal adversity.
The other issue was one of religious overtone. While Tim realized that marriage was also a civil institution with implications about inheritance, health care decision making, and even taxes, he primarily viewed marriage, again due to his upbringing, as a religious matter, he couldn’t see a reason to engage in such a traditional exercise. While I didn’t agree with his view of the matter, I had to respect it, even while not completely understanding it, coming from a very different background.
Perhaps you would be wondering why we had never discussed this issue over the course of 11 years. I suspect many opposite sex couples have discussions about the desire for marriage and children before their relationships mature too far, but because marriage was never an option for us, why would we have sounded out each other’s feelings about it? Once some of the states started to legalize it, I asked Tim about getting married on one of our frequent trips to California, and his answer was that he didn’t see the point because it wouldn’t be recognized as legal once we returned home. I accepted that point and left it alone.
But with the recent Supreme Court decision, we had to face an issue we had skirted for years. I don’t think it occurred to many people that amidst the rejoicing, there might also be consternation among couples who were not exactly on the same page in regards to such a momentous decision. That was our situation; jubilant at the recognition of our equality, at least in terms of marriage rights, but on opposite sides of the same issue as regards to ourselves. I won’t lie, it was painful to me to hear that marriage was out of the question and I had to struggle to let that go and move on with an otherwise wonderful partnership. Tim said he would consider the issue but he didn’t hold out any hope that his opinion would change.
Apparently, unknown to me until that minute, Tim’s opinions had changed. I hate to admit it, but my immediate response to his proposal, which was even set to music from Hedwig, The Origin of Love, was not a resounding yes, but instead it was a tentative, are you sure? Why would I say such a thing as the man I love is giving me exactly what I wanted and dreamed of? I gave that answer exactly because I love Tim enough to want to be sure that he is doing what HE wants in life, not simply trying to give me something I want when he doesn’t. I know that Tim is a man, as much as he would deny it, who would sacrifice something important to him to meet the needs or desires of a loved one. He is a model of giving and kindness, of self-sacrifice and generosity, but while I love and respect all those qualities about him, I simply couldn’t enter into a marriage, a contract I take very seriously and only intend to do once in my life, without being sure that the person I was marrying really wants to be married too. I also know Tim to be honest, even to a fault sometimes, so when he said, yes, he was sure, then I was free to say yes as well.
The Why of the Where
Why Ottawa, and why in front of Parliament? Well, Tim knows that I have a long standing love affair with the nation of Canada and he also knew that it was the first nation in the Western Hemisphere, and only the fourth in the world, the only country outside of Europe at that time, to extend marriage equality to all of its citizens. It seemed appropriate, and I am not complaining. So, for those who keep track of such things, July 16, 2015 was the date of the proposal. I believe in striking while the iron is hot, so the wedding is scheduled for August 4th, at 8:00pm in a very private ceremony in our home, the place where we live our life together and have done for the better part of ten years now. It was a perfect proposal and hopefully will also be an ideal wedding.
Lights and Action!
We had a nice dinner and then returned to Parliament Hill for the nightly, weather permitting, light show projected onto the Parliament Building known as Northern Lights.
Northern Lights Show Parliament Ottawa Canada
Oh, my, it was spectacular. I am not a huge fan of the light show concept but this was so well done. It tells the story of Canada in five books and it is an impressive achievement. We have posted video of some of the more significant sections of the approximately 30 minute long presentation. It is also strangely emotional, even for us who are not Canadian citizens. And toward the end, when Oh Canada, the national anthem played, (actual video from that night ) everyone on the lawn stood, removed their hats, and were as one in Canadian-ness. It was a beautiful thing. If ever in Ottawa, don’t miss it.
Changing of the Guard
The next day we were up and about early enough to follow the band to the changing of the guard ceremony on Parliament Hill.
Changing of the Guard Parliament Ottawa Canada
While it is majestic and colorful, it is also long. It can become tedious, especially when you don’t really understand the point of all the prancing about, looking down rifle barrels, and such. But, hey, they had bagpipes and I will always come out for those. The truly odd thing to us was that after the changing of the guard, everyone, including the guard that they supposedly changed to, all marched away, back to barracks I guess. It didn’t appear that there was any guard sticking around to guard Parliament. Maybe drones do that now.
Royal Canadian Mint
Then we moved on over to the Royal Canadian Mint where we had booked a tour. The tour was OK, but you are forbidden to take even one photo and it moves pretty fast. Realistically, the Mint looks much like any other factory, but extremely clean. It can be hard to believe, but those giant rolls of metal ribbon that require overhead cranes to move actually are silver, gold, and platinum, most all of mined right there in Canada. The Ottawa Mint doesn’t make circulation coins, which are mostly steel, nickel, and maybe some copper, although since the phasing out of the penny in Canada, the need for increasingly expensive copper has declined, at least for coinage purposes. The effect of the end of the penny is only felt when paying with cash. Your change will be based on the rounded price, to the nearest 5¢. However, if paying with credit card or check (who does that anymore?) then the penny value remains valid. The circulation coins are made in Winnipeg and Vancouver I believe. By the way, the image of Queen Elizabeth II that appears on all Canadian coins is the only coinage image in which she wears no crown. This unique attribute of Canadian coinage is with the Queen’s express consent as she is aware that no everyone in Canada is fond of having a monarch as Head of State, so in a nod to Canadian feeling, she is crown-less, just any older woman if you don’t know better.
The Ottawa mint, much like the San Francisco and West Point Mints in the United States, makes only collectible coins, which are struck 5-7 times, and investment coins where the point is not the image but the weight of the metal, thus those are struck as few as 3 times. The face value of the coins reflects the guaranteed value of the coin even if the, for example, gold market plummets and gold becomes essentially worthless, that $50 gold coin will still be worth $50. Granted, you might well have paid over $2,000 for it, but at least you know it will always be at least worth $50. The Mint in Ottawa has made a few gold coins that weighed a full kilogram, and yes, they sold. In the gift shop you can buy collectible coins, the investment coins are sold through banks, unlike in the United States where you can buy investment coins on-line from the US Mint. The collectible coins cover a wide range of topics including Loony Tunes as well as more traditional Canadian topics. Some are painted, either by hand or by machine, and some are even holographic. You can spend as little as $65 on a collectible coin or as much as $35,000 if you want some serious gold content. There is also a regulation gold bar that you can try to lift. The chain attached to it is to help prevent you from dropping it on your foot. You wouldn’t get far trying to steal it; it weighs 28 pounds.
The Royal Canadian Mint is very proud of being the only source in the world of “5 Nines gold.” This means that the gold they use is refined to 99.999% gold. This translates to there being only one or two atoms amongst trillions and trillions of gold atoms acting as any contaminant. It is the chemically purest gold you can buy. The Royal Canadian Mint also works on contract for other countries to make their circulation coinage when they don’t have the capacity or the population to support the activity. There is a display of the many countries that the Canadian Mint makes, or has made, coins for. There is apparently an active rivalry between the Royal Canadian and the Royal Australian Mint for various bragging rights. Apparently, the United States Mint is not even in the running. Canadians can be proud people, especially so close to Canada Day, and in addition to pride in the Mint, the Canada Post Office guy who sold me stamps to send postcards and letters to the United States, while explaining that there was no surcharge for square envelopes as there is in the United States (22¢ extra please), was quick to point out that the Canada Post was better than the United States Postal Service “in every way!” Perhaps it is.
Hips and Buildings
We had booked a free tour of the inside of the Parliament Building but by the time the appointed hour came around, we were pretty exhausted and wanted a break. Turns out that my “good” hip, the one not replaced, the right one, is not as good as I like to think. It has been progressively acting up on me when I walk very far and I was in a pretty significant amount of pain when walking at this point, so we cut it short. Besides, my experience of government buildings is that the outside is usually much more impressive than the inside. I don’t know if that is true of the United States Embassy in Ottawa for it looks very much like a standard issue office building, albeit with a very big fence. The Kuwati embassy across the street was much more impressive. I don’t think we missed much is what I am trying to say.
Return to Detroit
Our return trip went flawlessly, although we did remind ourselves that we hate summer travel because at least 50% of the travelers are children, who are not known for their consistent use of “inside voices.” We had to practically run through the Detroit airport with a short connection, even with our flight from Ottawa on time, but I did get the iconic view of a Delta Boeing 747 staring in the huge windows of Concourse A as it awaited take off for Shanghai, a flight we have actually been on with my Dad from Detroit, but in our case in a Boeing 777.
Not So Welcome Home
We arrived home on time, a bit tired perhaps, but happy in having seen a great show and the capital of Canada. I was disheartened on our drive home to pass a local church whose marque sign was advertising Leviticus 18:22. For those who don’t know, this is the bluntest of the Biblical prohibitions against gay men. I know that many gay men and scholars spend a good deal of time and energy trying to reinterpret or make less hateful this text, but I take it for what it is. I don’t have a need to try to change an institution or belief system that flat-out rejects me and still does so notwithstanding some nice, but ultimately meaningless words from some figures, whose subordinates don’t seem to be listening very closely. If they don’t want me, I don’t want or need them, and I move on. Besides, whoever wrote Leviticus was in a bad mood. It prohibits a literal laundry list of behaviors common in today’s world. It prohibits the wearing of mixed fibers, for example, so fundamentalist Christians throwing 18:22 at me better toss the cotton/polyester blends. And no picking up sticks, yes you read it right, on Saturdays, so get off those mowers and don’t even dare flip a light switch. And any sexual behavior that can’t lead to conception, also out, which will leave a lot of favored activity on the forbidden list. If you want to the cherry pick to support your existing prejudices and bigotry, the bible, a book compiled thousands of years ago in a language no one even speaks anymore, is your best friend. You can even justify slavery and child murder using the bible, so nothing is really out of bounds if you look for it. But I believe that the recent Supreme Court decision along with recent polls of Americans indicate that this tide too shall finally shift and those who preach, literally, narrow minded hate based on ignorance and fear, will pass the way of the dinosaurs. To paraphrase Brittany on Glee, “you who hate us are old, you will die soon, and then we will make the rules of the new world. Frankly, you don’t matter anymore.” Exactly.
But, In the End, He Who Laughs Last…
And yes, we were officially engaged as well regardless of what some neighbors might think of that. As Tim told me I would, I didn’t feel any different in terms of our relationship based on a few words asked and answered and I don’t expect I will feel differently after we say a few words during the actual marriage ceremony itself. I know we already love each other immensely and I don’t think that will change regardless, but it is good nonetheless to enjoy equality and recognition now that it is afforded to us. This was yet another wonderful adventure through the world with the most wonderful partner, and soon to be spouse, that anyone could ever ask for and receive. For those who think me lucky to travel as much as I do, you have it all wrong; the travel is great, yes, but the real joy is in the companion. May you all have, or find that love and joy in your own lives and enjoy the journey, wherever it may take you.
As always, Tim took beautiful photos, and incredible video too, and if you haven’t already seen them, you can find them here.