Christina and Micah's Wedding Part II

The morning of the wedding, we paid a visit to the yard of Joe Minter, an outsider artist who lives and works in Birmingham. Although we didn't actually get to talk to Mr. Minter, we were able to see a lot of his work in the yard, where he creates sculptures out of found materials dealing with aspects of American history. We heard that he is happy to guide people through his "African Village in America," so we were disappointed that we missed him.







Right next to his yard is a historic black graveyard.


We couldn't spend too long exploring, though, before we had to go back to get pretty for the wedding. Here's Mags in her beautiful blue and gold sari.

She and Micah's best man, Reiner, sang a duet

there was a kiss

and they were married!




And then we got down!

Congratulations Christina and Micah!

Christina and Micah's Wedding

Last Thanksgiving, the halfie crew drove (yes, *drove*) down to Birmingham, AL to celebrate Christina and Micah's wedding. We stood around the kitchen with the bride's father,

made some new friends,


and sampled the down home cuisine.


What I'm trying right there is a specialty of Micah's family. It's orange jello with a marshmallow topping, sprinkled with grated cheddar cheese. I don't think it needs further explanation.
While the menfolk watched the football game, the ladies gathered to get a preview of the wedding dress.


A lot of Christina's family had come. There were pleats to be arranged, bling to be decided on, and a sister to snuggle.





Then we had a song, courtesy of Christina's mom.


Afterwards, we went out with friends of Christina and Micah's to sample some of Birmingham nightlife. Dinner,

and dancing, of course!

To quote a friend: FU 2009

I GOT A NEW CAMERA! The Canon G11. Thanks Claud, Matthias & Eleanor!! Haven't figured out how to use it yet so these pictures are pretty middling, but here's the quiet part of my new years eve. Oh yeah, also, Carl & Ros announced that they got married last week and are having a baby--what!!!! So happy for them.

Holidays in the burbs

Claud and Eleanor hosted Christmas this year, and I got to meet Sabina finally! Aurally, she's channeling Darth Vader or maybe a pack-a-day piglet, because she's crazy congested, and apparently it's a learned skill to blow snot out of your nose, or also to suck it in. So she's a very crusty and heavy breather right now because all the snot just sits in her nostrils and about every five breaths she'll inadvertently let out a snort, and every so often she also blows snot bubbles out of her nostrils. She's really taking full advantage of that window in life where whatever you do, no matter how disgusting, the world thinks it's the cutest thing ever.

We visited the pediatrician and she said she's pretty sure the eyes are gonna stay blue! Also, at just over four months she weighs in at a whopping 16.4 pounds, putting her in the 99th percentile for her age/size; I'm looking forward to getting her hand me downs starting sometime around next year...

Day Eight

We woke up early so we could see the sun come up. While the sunset made the dunes lavender, the sunrise made them pink.



It had been a quiet night in our little tent.


When we got out and walked around, though, we were surprised to see little tracks everywhere in the sand. There was definitely some bird and insect life around. I'm not sure if you can make it out in my photos.

I don't mind waking up early to greet the sun, but after about 20 minutes, I considered it greeted and went back to bed. Julia stayed up to get the full nature experience.


Before we left, we took a few more turns on the sled.


And followed the posts back to the Impala.


We spent the day driving through Southwestern New Mexico. We stopped again in Las Cruces and the tiny town of La Mesilla. We ate, or rather, I ate lunch accompanied by Julia, at La Posta, which used to be a stop on the Butterfield Stagecoach. Julia could at least have a beer, since I was driving.

Outside La Posta, I took a picture of strings of dried peppers which is something we saw *everywhere* in New Mexico. Chili peppers are big here.


They're a real feature in the cuisine, and we heard stories about how much people miss them when they move away, and beg all their New Mexican friends to send them a giant bag at chili pepper season (August, btw).
We also found a pottery shop in La Mesilla, with colorfully-painted pottery. Some in the shape of, say, pigs, or cats. I think there are fawns there, next to the pigs.



La Mesilla also had a thrift shop! It had clothing, hats,


and curiosities

We left La Mesilla with a definite soft spot in our thrift-shop-loving hearts, but we had to get back on the road. We finally made it to the campgrounds at Gila National Forest, where they have natural hot springs!! I believe the name of the campsite was the Gila River Campground, and that it was. It was a pretty ideal spot. It had a kitchen, bathroom facilities, and did I mention, hot springs?


It even had a nice log bench from which to take in the river view while enjoying a brewski and waiting out turn for a quiet soak in the hot springs (pics to come in Day Nine).