Weekend notes

Got up early Saturday morning to attend a wedding in Westport (about an hour's-plus drive south from here, if you set your mind to it. Otherwise, maybe an hour and a half). Frisbee friends. An outdoor wedding on a beautiful weekend in the calm between hurricane remnants -- it couldn't have been a more perfect day. Some thoughts:

• We couldn't imagine how someone could schedule things such that they'd have to get up at the crack of dawn for their own wedding. They had to get up the next morning at 5am to catch the flight for their honeymoon, too.
• Our friend and teammate, RockStar, was designated by the State as an official solemnizer for the day to perform the wedding. We've all very amused by that title. Solemnizer! We're immature; we can't help it. (He did a great job, BTW.)
• There was a musical interlude during the ceremony. I'm familiar with this tradition, but I've always found it a little odd because basically the bride, groom and solemnizer just kinda stand around in front of everybody while the music is playing. I suppose it seemed stranger this time because it was a recording rather than an actual musician playing the music. I mentioned it to RockStar afterwards and he said that he thought it was a good opportunity for all parties involved to take a mental breather during the ceremony. (Ok, I'll buy that.)
• It was the anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy, and it was nice to not have to think about it for a little while. It's not like I'm ever going to forget what happened. I mean, when I look at a digital clock and I see that it's eleven past nine, AM or PM, I feel like the powers-that-be are trying to remind me about the tragedy.

After the wedding, the reception, and some post-wedding hanging out, the SOOTTAD and I headed over to a dance at the St. James Armenian Hall in Watertown. These are monthly dances with live bands that are put on by the Boston Swing Dance Network (beware, they have a noisy homepage). I hadn't gone to one of these dances in years, and have gotten less excited about dancing to live music in general (at least around Boston), but Ron Sunshine was in town and he did not disappoint. The band was tight, the music awesome (they play a blues/R&B-infused style of swing that's just great to dance to) and I'm glad we went. I would probably be willing to go to a smaller club with limited dance space just to see these guys play. However, we were both reminded why we stopped going to this dance. The turnout was embarrassingly low for a band of this caliber (poorly advertised? out in the 'burbs? A dry venue on a Saturday night? maybe just people staying in on 9/11.), the crowd is generally older, and, while all the dances I had were good, there was a dearth of acceptable leaders for the SOOTTAD. (read: mostly rockstars and creepy old scary dudes)

Sunday morning we slept in. (It was a pretty long day yesterday.)

It also turned out to be another beautiful day, so we were able to spend most of the afternoon climbing at Hammond Pond. We usually go to the main wall down by the mall parking lot (it's easy to get to and familiar territory), but the climbs are all pretty easy, and at this point, I feel like we've been there a million times, so this time we decided to check out the Pinnacle area up near the intersection of Hammond Parkway and Beacon.

It was a nice change -- a different landscape, new routes, and no crowds (actually no other people at all). Not exactly quiet -- the green line runs right by it, and the crags themselves are maybe 200 yards from the road, so every so often you can hear the cars go by -- but you can't see either from where we were climbing. We first set up at Lunchtime Crag and later moved over to Pinnacle Wall. I liked that the routes were a little more challenging, but they were probably a little too challenging for the SOOTTAD and Gro, who had joined us for part of the afternoon. Hopefully we can get back there again before the season ends so they can give 'em another shot. The only downsides: the mosquitoes were bad enough that the SOOTTAD and Gro had to make a CVS run to get more bug spray while I was setting up anchors (and it's not like the main wall is an mosquito-free oasis), and one of the routes (the 5.5 slab) was blocked by poison ivy. Both bummers, but it could have been worse.

Regardless, a pleasant afternoon spent outside. And a good weekend overall.