Full Circle

I'm sitting in SLY (Small Land Yacht) in the Duncan Family Campground in Wayson's Corner, Maryland. Full Circle because Suzanne and I tent-camped here twenty years ago when we first looked for a place to live for her new job with the U.S. Department of Labor in Washington DC. For days, we had looked west of DC in Virginia. Everybody said live where there's access to Virginia Rail or Metro. Problem was nothing spoke to us in Virginia and it rained cats and dogs everyday we looked. MISERABLE!

Someone in Columbus, Mississippi, grew up in Galesville, Maryland, so we looked there. Great little community on the water but the elementary school had been closed. Mahlone, who was starting fourth grade, would have had to ride a school bus and we didn't want that.

It was still raining as we started looking for a place to live in Maryland. In fact, it rained so hard it knocked down our tent in the Duncan Family Campground. It's cloudy as I write this but no monsoon yet!

After looking from Virginia to Galesville, we finally drove toward Annapolis, in the driving rain. We knew we wanted to consider Annapolis because of a National Geographic article with a cover photograph of Main Street looking from Ego Alley toward St. Anne's Episcopal Church.

Somehow we circled around Annapolis and entered through Eastport. As we crossed the Spa Creek Bridge, the sun blazed out from behind the storm clouds and reflected off ten thousand sailboat masts and the gold dome of the U.S. Naval Academy Chapel. Suzanne and I both said, "My God, this is it! All we have to do is find a house." Annapolis was and is the most beautiful place I've ever seen.

We found a house on Prince George Avenue. Suzanne and Mahlone moved in, started work and school, and I commuted from Mississippi for six months. Suzanne finally told me to move to Annapolis even if I had to be a waiter. Mississippi had a new Governor, and I most likely would have lost my job as the first Manager of the Major Economic Impact Authority anyway. I got a contract with NASA that lasted ten years, so everything worked out OK.

Here I am back in the Duncan Family Campground. I got SLY the week before Mahlone's wedding. Suzanne went to Ocracoke for a week after the wedding. Our life is strange. Full Circle.

The Perfect Marriage of The Perfect Woman

Mahlone married Mike three weeks ago. Her Mother had worked on details everyday for the past year. At least 99% of the excruciating details worked. Mahlone worked right along with her Mother and came to Annapolis most of the last 20 weekends to help plan and execute the details.

Bells were tied with ribbons, mason jars were wired to hang in trees, placecards were calligraphied (is that a word?), liquor was purchased, plates and glasses were rented, menus were agreed on, and one gay German farmer-florist was replaced after he doubled his price quote.

By the day of the wedding, I was bone-tired and feeling guilty because I had not really done anything.

Mahlone has always been the perfect person who grew up to be the perfect woman. As a child, she was sweet. As a teenager, she was sweet. As a student, she studied and worked hard. As a worker, she worked smart and hard.

Her intelligence, her beauty, and her sweetness continue to astound me. And now, she has the perfect husband.

Just look at her! I love her so much!