Post-ceremonial Vacation

Although it's more about fishing for yucks now, I really DID have some difficulty referring to our trip as a "honeymoon." So I think the word sounds a little too sweet - friggin shoot me.

I can say in all earnestness and honesty: The 10 or 12 days which made up our wedding day and the moon of honey were among the best I've ever had. Part of it was simply that we had a cool wedding...no big deal and yet quite special and memorable. A best friend - Doc DoLittle - performed emcee duties. The dog ran around for awhile and made it into some of the photos before settling down about 5 minutes into the 15-minute ceremony. (I forgot to put her outside before we started, but it worked out great and we are glad she is in some of the pics.)

Toward the middle of the ceremony, our cats came part way down the stairs and watched us say our vows.

And the ensuing moon of honey flowed like a Yeti into the woods.

The rugged Pacific coastline, the combination of both rustic and luxurious lodging, the awe-inspiring Redwoods, and one of the best cities in the world - San Francisco - it was truly one of the best weeks of my life.

The fact that I got to enjoy it all with my beautiful, funny, smart, grounded bride (I am still pinching myself over what a lucky man I am!) was nothing short of magnificent...We are off to a wonderful start!

Okay - a little salt to offset all this sugar-coated sweetness: etymology of "honeymoon:" The first month after marriage, when there is nothing but tenderness and pleasure" (Samuel Johnson); originally having no reference to the period of a month, but comparing the mutual affection of newly-married persons to the changing moon which is no sooner full than it begins to wane; now, usually, the holiday spent together by a newly-married couple, before settling down at home.

And: The word honeymoon has its roots in the Norse word "hjunottsmanathr" which was anything but blissful. Northern European history describes the abduction of a bride from a neighboring village. It was imperative that the abductor, the husband to be, take his bride-to-be into hiding for a period of time. His friends assured his and her safe keeping and kept their whereabouts unknown. Once the bride's family gave up their search, the bridegroom returned to his people. This folkloric explanation presumably is the origin of today's honeymoon, for its original meaning meant hiding. The Scandinavian word for honeymoon is derived, in part, from an ancient Northern European custom in which newlyweds, for the first month of their married life, drank a daily cup of honeyed wine called mead. The ancient practices of kidnapping the bride and drinking the honeyed wine date back to the history of Atilla, king of the Asiatic Huns from A.D. 433 to A.D. 453.