Kelly wanted a very sunny place for her college studies and chose Arizona State University. That was ten years ago. She loved the Arizona desert so much that she has made it her home. She has long since graduated, has been working full time as a Clinical Research Coordinator, is back in school for an advanced degree, just started a business called Armstrong Adaptations, and while planning for her wedding also completed a half marathon run! She is a busy girl! And somehow she finds time for one of her passions which is salsa dancing. Actually, she was a competitive ballroom dancer in college, and her first job out of college was as a dance instructor. She finds much more joy, though, salsa dancing with her friends at the salsa clubs. And through all that she found the joy of her life, Jason Armstrong, who is now her husband!

So family and friends gathered in Scottsdale, AZ for her wedding last Friday. Here is a picture of Kelly and me in the Scottsdale Civic Center Mall, which is where the outdoor wedding and the reception took place. The building in the background is The Clayton on the Park, which is where the reception was held.

The Spring temperature was a lovely, dry 85 degrees during the day, and a very comfortable 70 degrees by 10 PM. Here is a shot of the park between the wedding site and the reception site.

And here is Kelly at a spot on the park known as The Marshall Garden, on the day before her wedding on that exact spot.

And here are some shots of the wedding itself. First, of course, because it’s MY blog, the bride and her father:

The wedding party (photo by Craig Amrine):

The wedding music: (Doesn’t everyone have mariachi love songs at their wedding?)

Walking down the aisle, Karen my ex, Kelly the beautiful bride, and me:

Part of the ceremony:

Dig the red shoes!

The vows (photo by Craig Amrine):

The newly marrieds, Kelly and Jason Armstrong:

…and by photographer Craig Amrine:

All my children and me!

From left to right are my son-in-law Mike, his wife/my pregnant daughter Megan, me, Kelly, Jason, my daughter Ginny, and my son Kevin.

My parents:

And I’ll finish with three more pictures of the beautiful/handsome couple, Kelly and Jason Armstrong! (The first two photos by Craig Amrine.)

Kelly and Jason are two beautiful and outstanding young people! I am proud to welcome Jason into our loving family, just as I know they have welcomed Kelly into theirs. May they live long and prosper, and may the odds be ever in their favor! (The Hunger Games opened on the same day as their wedding.)

I am very happy!

I’ll try to gather reception pictures/movies to share on another post.

Kevin has been on bikes since forever. I recently posted these pictures from about 23 years ago:

A few years after that, Kevin competed in his first triathlon. He was pretty young, and he did great! That’s his sister, Kelly, to his right. They did a solid kid’s event swim/bike/run.

And now he’s back to the same place, in Sylvania, Ohio, to compete in his first triathlon as an adult. Here we are before the race.

His teammate Ryan McHugh swam the 1.5 km (0.9 mile) open water swim in 18 minutes, which is an awesome time! Then Kevin biked 40 km (25 miles) in the pouring rain in 1:12, which was also remarkable! And finally, Alex Schoen ran the 10 km (6.2 miles) in 43 minutes, another super performance. They came in 2nd place by just a few minutes.

Here they are, all exhausted looking after the race.

Can you tell I’m pretty damn proud!? Alex recently lost his dad; I know he would have been very proud of Alex as well. These are three really great young guys!!!

Though, really, Princess Gail is all the view I need!

After the hike up, we hiked around the top and down the back side of the mountain, following a stream and waterfall back to where we started from.

And now that Princess Gail is carrying a camera, I get to be in an occasional picture!

She even got a picture of my halo!

I need a number of CME hours every year to keep my medical license current. It’s a common routine among doctors to realize that the year is almost over and that we need CME hours pronto! Of course, by then the holidays are upon us, and the year end schedules are pretty much set in stone. So I looked at my calendar and realized I had a span of four short days in December that I could use for some of my needed educational hours. Of course I asked myself, “What are the chances I’ll find a good conference on those exact days?! Slim to none.” But I did a search anyway, and was surprised to find an excellent Cardiology conference put on by UCSF, on the exact days! I figured that was a sign from heaven and signed up on the spot.

I thought of Sandee immediately. As everyone knows, Sandee is the giver of “Big Hugs” who runs the Comedy Plus blog. She brings smiles, chuckles, and LOL’s to the whole wide world! I get her daily posts in my morning emails, and always look forward to the cheerful pick-me-up. I knew that Sandee lived close by. I had seen her many pictures of boating on the bay. So I dropped her an email informing her of my trip plans and inquiring if she and Zane would like to meet Gail and me for dinner. Her reply? “You bet!”

The rest is history, as well recorded on her blog earlier today. Each of us had a bit of an adventure getting to the yacht club for dinner, but we got there! The Encinal Yacht Club was gorgeous, the evening was pleasantly cool, and the slight fog gave the city lights a beautiful, soft glow. At this, our first meeting, I felt an instant bond with both Sandee and her husband, Zane. They had a Big Hug, open armed welcome for us, and the rest of the evening was spent in fun and friendly conversation and enjoying a splendid dinner! It was a wonderful feeling to meet Sandee and Zane live and in person, and to get a couple of her famous “Big Hugs” IRL!

For me, blogging is about making human connections with people of like minds. I have gravitated to a few such people, geographically scattered all over the place, usually far enough away that an actual meeting is unlikely. But I value those relationships in a very real way. And now, having actually met, I will treasure our friendship in a really real way!

Thank you Sandee and Zane! I am happy and proud to call you friends!!

Main Street, Mt Airy, with the Blue Ridge in the background.

See!? Mayberry stuff.

See!? Andy of Mayberry art.

The traditional long line for a "pork chop sandwich, all the way" at Snappy Lunch!

Remember Ron Howard as Opie?

Gail and April at the festival. Gail is turning into a southern girl, a sunny 75 degrees and wearing her coat!

April, Amanda and Gail with a bloomin' onion. Deep fried, of course!

Some dude preparing a little pork!

Gail was on the prowl for a turkey leg, and she found one!

nom nom nom nom!

Trying my very first deep fried Oreo!

I liked it! I liked it!

It was a great day! I’m grateful for so many things, especially the deep fried Oreos! :-)

This morning, we started out with a bike ride around Salem Lake, one of our favorite rides.

Later in the afternoon, we went with our friends April and Brent to check out the North Carolina Beer Fest at Tanglewood Park. There was an unbelievable number of people trying to get into the park. It took about an hour, but we finally parked amidst an ocean of cars. Then we found out it cost $30 to get in, for the privilege of sampling as many beers as we wanted. None of us thought that was worth it, so after all that, we left! No big deal, we had fun just being part of the craziness. We ended up having a nice dinner at our favorite Winston restaurant, the Village Tavern.

After that, we all went to catch our first Winston-Salem Dash baseball game, on another glorious evening of fine weather. It’s a great little stadium, brand new this year, and we beat the Myrtle Beach Pelicans! Yay us!

So far, a most excellent weekend! I think I’ll add to this post with whatever tomorrow brings!

Okay. So today is “tomorrow!” I started the day asleep! I didn’t set an alarm and slept in a bit. It was wonderful! Then I lounged around in my underwear. (Oops. Can I say that on a blog?! — Of course I can! It’s my blog dammit!) Then I ran on the treadmill, and later ran a few errands with Princess Gail. It was a great, mindless kind of day.

We spent the evening with a bunch of new friends. They were all absolutely wonderful! A very welcoming and fun crowd! We had a delicious dinner at a funky restaurant in downtown Winston, Sixth and Vine. The place has a fun schedule of activities, so I think it will become one of our favorite stops.

All in all, an excellent weekend!

There were majestic birds on the courses, like the great blue heron:

There were birds of prey, a red shouldered hawk and an osprey:

A little blue heron and a white ibis were helping find my ball:

And like everywhere I go, I spotted these common birds:

I seem to attract them!

A Writing Exercise. The Long Sentence
You’re going to write for a total of ten minutes straight. No breaks. You’ll write one long sentence, not stopping for punctuation. Do not go back to correct grammar or re-organize sentences. Let the words come forth, just get them down even if the sequence doesn’t make sense. This release will help you relax and get you into the groove of writing.
I’m giving you the first five words:
“The last time I saw ……..”

Ready? Set the timer, now breathe and go!
This was one of the first exercises I ever did, and it led to the writing of this poem.

Remember, you are loved and you are blessed! Breathe and write!
-Kanani

And here is my stuff:

“The last time I saw…” the mountains will not be my last. I became even more convinced that this is not only something I desire but something I need. We did not have the greatest weather, and it didn’t make any difference. The peace was still there, and the silence and the big sky. The clouds passed by in slow motion, some above us and some below. I could see the steam of the clouds slowly taking on new shapes. I can stand there watching clouds for minutes on end, as if there aren’t more important things in the world. There is something timeless about the mountains, something healing, something awesome in the truest sense of the word. This last experience was near Asheville, North Carolina, with the Blue Ridge in full view and in fall splendor. The air was chilly but not cold. Overnight rain had left the valley full of dense cloud below us, with only certain peaks that were high enough popping through. The heat of the morning sun quickly dried that up. leaving a green valley with distant houses and specks of cars that were barely visible. I could hear the rustle of the leaves and the caw of an occasional blackbird. I listened for the wild turkeys I have heard in the area, but was disappointed not to hear any on this trip. They’re probably in hiding with Thanksgiving right around the corner! Ha! Car trips up and down the mountains are very much fun for longtime flatlanders. The roads are windy and single lane in the steepest parts of the mountain close to the cabin where we stayed. Rutted gravel makes the car shimmy and shake and adds to the driving suspense. There was a part near the very top that was so steep the car couldn’t make it except in reverse! But we got up safely and thanked the Lord for surviving and for the adventure. Going down is much easier of course, and allows full enjoyment of the view, especially as some of the trees have lost much of their foliage. Down in the valley, little towns like Old Fort and Black Mountain can take up most of our day if we let them, and we do. It is healing and enriching to lose sense of time for a while, and go where the heart desires, aimlessly and joyfully. We like to have a mission on those days, but never mind if we are distracted over and over again and never quite accomplish what we set out to do, knowing full well it was merely and excuse to get going and a starting point. Back at the mountain cabin, like on most vacations, I try to never miss a sunrise or sunset. Why is that so mystical and serene? Why do I feel connected to all people who have ever roamed the earth when I am watching a sunrise or sunset? I don’t know, but what happens to me is an easy reflection at sunrise about what the day might have in store, and at sunset what the day that just passed was like. Promise and hope in the morning, and a sense of accomplishment and gratitude in the evening. What could be better than that?

Thanks, bro!