The Wedding Plum

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Photo by Bella Pictures

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One year ago on August 1, right here in the orchard under a cathedral tent where apple and pear trees circled us, we witnessed the marriage of a woman and a man. They, Lesley and Brian, with their grandpas and Lesley's dad, planted a Wedding Plum tree, not a tradition I've heard of specifically with plums, but when we decided to plant a tree in the orchard as a symbol of a new life together, Don asked what fruit it should be. "A plum, it has to be a plum," I said. During Lesley and Brian's ceremony, Nature contributed its perfect gift: a warm, tender rain that watered the Wedding Plum.

In the spring, it blossomed.

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Today, one year later, there is ONE plum on the Wedding Plum tree, one solitary singular sole unique significant plum. I find this to be a very plum plum (remember Hana feeding a plum to the English Patient, scraping the fruit from the skin with her teeth and feeding it to him as if he was a baby bird?). The bride and groom will be here in a few days from NYC, and they will have to decide what to do with this dandy plum -- maybe eat it like a bride and groom going after the same piece of wedding cake, slobber slobber. There was no unity candle at the wedding, remember those? There was a unity plum tree.

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August 1, 2009 was among the happiest days of my life. To see our precious daughter joined with a man who is perfect for her, to gain a new son whom we adore, to be surrounded with family and friends, to have planned and prepared for this celebration right here where we live and have it turn out better than we could have hoped (so much love, you could feel the energy, like a beautiful veil), even with "dreaded" rain that turned out to be a surprising gift, was just stupendous! (Here's my original post of the wedding.)

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 Don, me, Lesley, Brian & Peter
Photo by Bella Pictures

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These silly Japanese beetles heard that it was Wedding Plum Day, and so they . . . . um . . . . celebrated. First they made some wedding lace in the plum tree leaves. Then they had a wedding . . . type . . . unifying embrace. Isn't that charming? (Personally, I think they should hide behind their lacy leaf veil.)

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