Oh indeed I do
I am in Tulsa and it’s 77 degrees and windy. I’m gunning for a thunderstorm and feeling pretty lucky. I am writing this on my parents’ computer, which is made of rusty soup cans and powered by a water mill.
Tonight after dinner my dad and I took a walk around the neighborhood, and I was surprised how many people’s houses I remembered. My first grade teacher, my 8th grade civics teacher’s parents, seven families I used to babysit for, my childhood best friend, the girl who dated every guy I dated in middle and high school after I broke up with them, the first boy I ever loved, all within walking distance. We walked by my old elementary school and I wanted to climb on the playground toys, but the gate isn’t open anymore. Then we came home and sat on the back porch with my mom and brother and did impressions of people. I didn’t need a jacket and there were no bugs. Magic hour.
I’m back in Oklahoma because I’m the maid of honor in my bosom friend Laura’s wedding. Laura is marrying Oliver, so for those of you who’ve been reading this site for that long: that Boba Fett move worked out.
Laura and Oli are a very well-matched couple. They are both biologists. Laura studies treehoppers and Oli studies katydids, so there are two in silhouette hidden in the corner of their wedding invitation. Aside from being gigantic nerds, they are also a very attractive couple, as this photo will prove (and the comments that follow are a pretty good representation of Laura and my friendship). I like Oli very much, for reasons including but not limited to:
- is very good to Laura
- used his field research equipment to dress as Dr. Peter Venkman for Halloween
- also dressed as Shaun of the Dead the previous year in the best costume I’ve ever seen, sadly not online
- brought me three Man or Astro-man? CDs the first time we met because the only picture he’d seen of me was this one on Laura’s shelf
- loves German death metal
- this thing about baby tigers I’m not allowed to say but oh man it’s cute
- excellent bartender
Oli’s family is flying in from Germany for the wedding. They don’t speak any English, and Laura’s family doesn’t speak any German. Her tiny nephews will be wearing lederhosen during the ceremony, though, so I think it’ll all work out.
Laura has requested I spend the night before the wedding with her, in her childhood bedroom, which I imagine will involve us wearing long flannel nightgowns and braiding each other’s hair and singing hymns until the candle burns out or some other Anne of Green Gables bullshit. I will do this in part because she has killed many bugs for me in the past, but mostly because I love her.