Out and About
First reflection on crossing the Atlantic
Nothing! At least as close to nothing one could imagine. But, just like a sealed bottle with seemingly nothing in it, upon closer inspection one would find millions of particles and elements. So just to glance at the vast desert that is the Atlantic would not give you an adequate understanding of what is happening. On the other hand, to stare too long would make a sane mind go crazy, for it seems, just like a word on the tip of the tongue, that you are on the edge of a greater understanding of what is really going on in this rat race that we call life; as if God himself had picked you to understand but tells you in a foreign tongue. It is true, sailors are the true romantics. Who in their right mind would travel out to a place that you were never meant for to find yourself; like daring to cross the underworld as a mortal in order to ask Hades himself a question. — Erik Hawkinson
California Wedding
Under a brilliant California sky, on Saturday, July 20, Anne Soderstrom and Lon Rork were married high on a mountain overlooking the clear, deep waters of Lake Tahoe. Family and friends gently ascended 3000 feet above the lake to the top of Heavenly Valley by gondola where they witnessed the late afternoon ceremony officiated by Anne’s brother and sister-in-law, Karl and Michelle Clifton-Soderstrom.
Upon reaching the top of the lift (9,123 feet), the sounds of bagpipe and string quartet greeted guests. Ann-Marie Olson, longtime friend of Anne, also provided music for the celebration singing “The Water Is Wide.” Mel and Joanne Soderstrom, parents of the bride, happily welcomed many of their friends from Chicago and elsewhere who had ventured to the high Sierra’s for the event.
After the knot had been tied, the bride was cloaked in a tartan following the tradition of the groom’s Scottish ancestry. As guests dined on a post-ceremony feast of salmon and prime rib, the sun sank behind the towering mountains casting hues of purple, red, gold, and orange on the shimmering waters of Tahoe. Anne and Lon, who met a few years ago while on the staff of Mission Springs Conference Center, will reside in the San Francisco Bay Area, where Lon will be a teacher and coach, and Anne a graphic artist. — Bob Bach