Oh, our honeymoon! We needed a new one a few days before the
wedding and ended up in California with a rental car but no place to stay. We
wandered north and south of San Francisco, even staying with Kansas Dad’s aunt
and uncle for a few nights, but it was wonderful I remember one day, leaning
against the railing at a lighthouse. We had been hoping to spot some whales,
but the drizzle and fog obscured everything. I remember the smell of the sea
and the feel of the mist and raindrops on my face…and my husband at my side.
We got a cat shortly after we were married because I wanted
one and was devastated when Kansas Dad turned out to be allergic. Then, being
prepared for a pet, we felt bereft and decided impulsively to get a dog, a
beagle. We drove three hours to pick him up. He was fat and dirty, but we’d
driven so far we took him home. The very first day, he ate part of the
entertainment center, chewed through the television’s cord, pulled down all of
my dresses and rolled on them (requiring a hefty dry cleaning bill). It was
only the first of many stories about “Things Sherlock Ate or Otherwise
Destroyed,” but he was a good dog.
Just before our first anniversary, I started a new job and
came home in the middle of the first day feeling ill. Eventually diagnosed with
pneumonia, I missed the rest of the week and we debated canceling our
anniversary trip to Maine, but drove up anyway. We stayed in one room of a huge
house along the coast, sharing a bathroom. One day, we visited a near-by state
park where I dozed on the beach while he walked the dunes. It was peaceful and
calm and I felt like a convalescent on the coast of an English novel.
Was it our second anniversary when we stayed in Plymouth? Kansas
Dad surprised me with a whale-watching cruise. The camera was broken, so we
have only the memories of that amazing trip, when we saw every kind of marine
wildlife possible. Remember how the humpback and her calf appeared so close to
the side of the boat that we rocked a bit? The guide warned us any other
whale-watching cruise would be a disappointment after that one, but I still
hope to one day take the children on one.
