Reflections on twenty-nine years ...

As part of the catching breath and catching up, it is altogether pauseworthy to remember that today, 27 June 2010, marks the 29th anniversary of the day when HWMBO and I made our wedding vows to each other.  [This particular photo dates from 2007.]

In fact, today also officially launches our 30th year together - or somewhat together, in any event - as we have been spending much of our time on two different continents since 2003.  Thank heavens for Skype, which - with its video feature - is almost as good as being together!  In fact, as Son B remarked after watching us communicate via Skype during his recent visit, we probably talk to each other a lot more than do many couples who are together 100 percent of the time.  That is probably not quite true, but it does keep the occasions that we are together, in fact, very special.  This year, we are together for the Big Day, because I arrived back in Maryland on Thursday evening.  This will be one of the longest times that I will be on this side of The Pond since October 1994.  But I will return to Switzerland in September, after helping to celebrate Prince Tyger's second birthday.  Those little ones are growing up so fast!

HWMBO is my biggest supporter and champion, my best friend and my other half.  I consider myself to be among the most fortunate of persons to have someone who is so self-confident and unselfish that he can allow me to follow my dreams without feeling threatened in the least.  I really do not deserve to have such a fine person in my life, but I am so glad that he is there all the same.  I thank All the Powers That Be that our signs were destined for each other, that we met each other in 1981 just at a time that was right for each of us in every respect.  Since then, he has balanced my life in so many ways that I never even realized needed balancing, just as he has enriched it.  He has not only offered me more options but encouraged me to seek them out and exercise them.  I am not sure whether I have done the same for his life, in fact, I am sure that I have not.  It is true, however, that we have had some unique experiences together that we never would have had apart, in part because of my own influence in his life.  I only wish that he could feel as comfortable in a non-anglophone culture as I do.  I even more fervently wish that the US health care system were not so restrictive, nor so unsuited to the modern industrialized global community that those who benefit from Medicare literally cannot receive health care outside the US under that system - with rare exceptions.  While health care is also a concern for me, it has not yet become such a deciding factor of my existence.  Inevitably, it will.

Although HWMBO is an engineer by training, complete with the requisite linear mindset and precision, he has a wonderful internal whimsy - and a dry sense of humor - that appreciate some of my own most fanciful inclinations and traits.  Thus, during the past year, he has let his hair grow out and been wearing a pony tail.  A friend and former colleague of his recently asked me why I couldn't get HWMBO to cut his hair.  He couldn't seem to believe that I actually like it!  IMO,the hairstyle suits him.  It especially keeps that lovely whimsy evident, because otherwise one would believe that he is nothing but serious!

Last evening, we attended the final concert at the Columbia Festival of the Arts in Maryland, a festival that has become a hallmark of  the city since 1987.   The artist was Arlo Guthrie, himself practically a living legend, son of the legendary Woody Guthrie.  His performance was punctuated by his off-the-cuff remarks about his own life experiences, including his memories of the Woodstock Festival.  By his own account, his memories of Woodstock didn't extend much beyond his arrival by helicopter when he realized that he was probably going to have a great time there!

Arlo himself was wearing a pony tail, so HWMBO and I felt right at home.  We thoroughly enjoyed the concert, which featured a couple trademark songs from Arlo's repertoire, including Steve Goodman's "City of New Orleans" and Woody's "This Land Is Your Land."  The only well-known song missing from the repertoire was his own "Alice's Restaurant."

I am so glad that I was able to be here and experience the evening with the person I love ...

just as I appreciate being with him here now.  May our 30th year together continue the Good Times!