Wow...what a year it has been! Can anybody tell me how time has speeded up? I'm convinced that it truly has altered, shifted, gone into light speed or had some kind of magic reshape it.
So much has happened in that whirling dervish of time. There have been some wonderful experiences doing major painting commissions and having numerous exhibitions in museums and galleries and in all, a fantastic and exciting year. There are many stories around much of those events and some very loving memories. The best event of the year however was when Jane Lane and I got married!!!!
It is the story of our wedding that I am going to write about for this page on my website. I decided that it would be very personal and would give you a better view perhaps of what my life is..."real time."
I will begin with me finding a couple of old gold ring bands amongst my treasures, one which just happened to fit me, and one that fit Jane. She had two rings of her mother and grandmother that had small diamonds in them. So, we had a friend, Phil Burton of Burton Jewelers set the diamonds, one larger and two smaller into Jane's ring and one larger and three smaller into mine. Now that we had the rings, we had to decide when to have the wedding. Oh that was impossible! How could we do it..with family, our daughters only, with friends, but there are so many.....or maybe just go to our beautiful island beach and give our blessing to each other there. We just couldn't put it together. Living here at Milkwood, Jane and I strive to be in the moment as much as possible and it seemed that this important celebration was going to have to come to us in the moment. That meant letting go of it and thus allowing "it" to appear to us out of the unknown.
Jane and I were going to take her daughter Gena to the airport in Vancouver, BC and go spend a couple days on Salt Spring Island, BC. On the way out the door I saw the velvet bag on the counter with "the rings" in it. I slipped it into my pocket.
As is our morning custom with coffee I read aloud to Jane. That first morning on Salt Spring was beautiful, a gorgeous September morn and we found a cove with sweeping granite rock formations flowing into tidal waters filled with purple and orange starfish and diving birds and seals. As we sat in the rising sun I began a new book. It was a book that I had read before, but new to Jane. It is ALL THE WINTERS THAT HAVE BEEN, by Evan Maxwell. Interestingly it is about a man and woman and their relationship together, which is represented spiritually by the wolf and raven. This story, set in the Pacific Northwest was written by Evan a few years ago and shortly after its release Evan saw my sculpture of BROTHERS OF THE WOOD with the wolf and raven symbology. His story has in it a sculpture of a wolf and raven carved by the woman in the story and it becomes a centerpiece for the relationship.
After coffee and the read, we took a picnic and drove up none other than Mt. Maxwell and a most beautiful drive it was, to the top. We ate, drank, and lay in the golden sun. The butterflies were swooning above our heads and the crickets were sharply cricketing their way around us. There were two ravens playing above and would occasionally swoop down into our mountain glade on vibrant wings of violet. Truly, a more splendid day it could not have been. At that moment, Jane looked at me and said, "Oh, this would be the perfect moment to celebrate our marriage union." So, let the magic begin; as I dropped to my knees and took the velvet bag from my pocket, Jane broke up with joyous laughter..as did I. We laughed and sang and smiled our way into words that spoke of the moment and of our true union in love and spirit and soul. How perfect!!!! The ceremony was officiated over by ravens, grasshoppers and butterflies!!!!
May all of you have such wondrous moments in your life now and in the future and may all the blessings of creatorship flow into your vessel.
