Rural Rounds

This past weekend I had the honor and privilege of being an usher in my friends' Joe Wallington and Liz Thorne's wedding. I was the usher on behalf of the bride, my longtime friend Liz, and was given the opportunity to take part in the wedding not merely as an attendee, but as a participant. I arrived in St. Joseph on this past Friday (May 26th), a day before the wedding. I didn't leave early enough to attend the rehearsal, assuming that as an usher, my duties were relatively straightforward. I had received an invitation to the rehearsal dinner, what I imagine was once termed the betrothal feast in a period not so long gone from the present. It was a spectacular event; the dinner was at an Italian restaurant in an older building in the slowly reforming downtown of St. Joseph. The rustic appearance of the restaurant, combined with the fantastic cousine, made me experience the event as something of a bygone age when weddings as multi-day events were the norm. Washing down the...