Holden Caulfield went on to coach little league

So today we attended the wedding of our friends Rob and Liz. Rob and Liz. I like the sound of couple names. I’m sentimental that way, you know. Two first names melded into one, joined only by a conjunction, to describe a single couple unit. I just like the sound of ‘em. Travis and Ashley. Tim and Julie. Sean and Anna. Kelly and Alan. Guillermo and Winnifred. Rob and Liz. I just like the sound of ‘em, that’s all. Don’t look at me like that.

I don’t know any people named Guillermo or Winnifred.

It was a gorgeous wedding though, complete with a beautiful hill country backdrop and peacocks, oh yes, peacocks, even an albino one. It was one of those weddings that reminds you why we still have them. Weddings, if done as beautifully as the one we attended today and as beautiful as The Ash and I tried to make ours, are a lot like the Constitution of the United States. Perhaps this isn’t the strongest analogy, but what I means is that they present an ideal that, although you may never attain and that you may continually fall short of, is worthy of striving for. And being reminded of that ideal is good for those of us who are already on that commitment ride.

I’m glad I went today because the close of this here 2006 holiday season finds the Holmes in an odd mood. Grumpy. Cranky. Irritable. Prone to using synonyms. Pretty much displeased about most everything to do with the holidays. I’m sure part of it had to do with moving and being unsettled at a time of year when you’d really rather not be. But I think it was more than just the move that had my feathers ruffled. I honestly felt like this was a Charlie Brown year for me, one where I was looking around and wanting to find some sort of deeper meaning somewhere. I think it’s the fact that, now that Ashley and I are family folk, there’s a responsibility that sits with us to help define what we want this time of year to be about for our son and any other kids we may have. And for some reason, almost everything this year seemed to have about as much depth as a J.C. Penny’s commercial. It all seemed to piss me off somehow, whether it was Santa Claus or Jesus or people arguing about Santa Claus and Jesus, it all just seemed so two-dimensional. It’s funny, I thought I’d gotten over the complete bastardization of this whole time of year, but now that I have a child, it all seems to have come to the surface again.

There were, thankfully, exceptions to this cynical rule. Watching Henry (sort of) open his presents….he seemed to not make a whole lot of distinction between the paper and the gift inside, and that’s totally cool. Watching Ashley open her present from me. My new pea coat from Ashley. Christmas dinner with the in-laws. Watching Advent candles being lit. Winter solstice party with the Bedlam Faction kids. Anchor Christmas Ale. Checking out the tree of lights down at Zilker (we didn’t make it to the trail of lights this time). And now Rob and Liz’s wedding. Between my fits of “searching for meaning” these things all added up to a pretty damn meaningful and enjoyable holiday.