A misty day in January, with drizzle as thick as bear's fur. It gently soaks through to the bone making you hurry indoors. Thus was the setting for the first day of our weekend away in Elk and Mendocino- some time away to write our wedding vows.
Our first stop inside a store found us face to face with Barbara Phillips, our host for Latitude who lives in Berkeley. One stop on our honeymoon includes the Lot Valley in southwestern France for a weeklong workshop on Medieval singing, food and culture. We have the honeymoon suite in this 14th century Mill (shown above) at La Toulzanie.
The sea outside the window of the Mendocino Hotel is filled with rollicking waves crashing against cliffs and the dreariness has a mystical quality to it. Built in 1878, 26 years after the town was founded, the Mendocino Hotel boasts elegant decor with lots of russets and blues that remind you of the previous century. Old, well-kept wood and a large fireplace in their lounge is where we periodically warm our backsides and sit surfing the net and scanning various books to create the ceremony.
As we work, friends and strangers appear. David's high school friend Kevin calls from Africa to say he and his family will be coming to the wedding. They'll be journeying from the Gambia in West Africa. Visitors come and go, lured by the fire. Two young blond boys take up a game by the fire and eventually, the older asks if we are writing a book.
Two foamy cups of hot chocolate streaked with chocolate sauce appear to nourish our spirits as we write. "How civilized," David says. Without trying, I think this may end up being a tear-jerker of a ceremony. We seek out the whimsical and eccentric to lighten the heaviness that even life's most wondrous joys can carry.
At the end of the weekend wandering the private beach of the Elk Cove Inn, we find an abalone shell on the beach (photo of its pearly inside shown above). It is a gift from the sea with meaning relevant to what this weekend is all about for us. The universe has given us its blessing.
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