Minnesota (Part One)

Every time I sit down to write, my mind gets all jumbled and the words end up in a traffic jam before ever spilling out onto the page. My already overloaded brain doesn't quite know how to process all that I took in over the past weekend... First of all were the days leading up to our departure, which left my mind reeling and my body sleep deprived. For all the tension and lost sleep, I should have been gone at least a month!

Our plane flew out of Rochester, NY a little after 6am on Friday. We were delayed slightly by some late passengers due to the Southwest airport computer terminals being down. Half our traveling group boarded the plane late making my already frayed nerves begin to unravel. When Nate and Sabrina, and Josh and Adam were safely on board, I breathed a big sigh of relief, and I'm sure they did too.

We rented a huge vehicle once we arrived in Minneapolis and fit all seven of us (we picked up James' sister Kathy there), all our luggage, and several bags of groceries into a Suburban for the ride down to Montgomery where we cooked up a huge batch of chili con carne and green chile stew for Jim and Michele's rehearsal dinner. By the time dinner was over, my head was throbbing and, along with Nate and Sabrina, I turned into bed early and listened from the dark of the bedroom to the bustle of activity in the barn's basement.

On Saturday morning James and Kathy ran out to the store for something to make for breakfast and came back with a load of bacon, eggs, orange juice, and corn tortillas. I made a call to my longtime blog friend Kristina, and we eventually decided the best way to get some time together was for her to drive out to the farm where we could share a cup of coffee and talk or take a walk around the grounds.

Kristina arrived not long after I had stepped outside into the warm morning air (a Minnesota miracle this time of year) when she drove in. I waved and when she stepped out of the car, we each gave the other a big hug. There were introductions she'll never remember and several hours of walking about, looking through the barn, and sitting in the sun getting to know each other in person. "Yea!" Later that day I found I had sat enjoying the sun and cool breeze a bit too long and was blessed with a fine Minnesota sunburn just in time for the wedding (blush). It's now becoming a very nice tan and I have a head start on my New York summer.

PS. After my visit with Kristina, I found my headache had disappeared and all the tension had miraculously  evaporated.