Brian York's Life

Now is the winter of our discontent

Written on June 19, 2008

Well, those of you who actually follow this journal will probably notice a bit of a change with this entry. If you haven’t noticed a change, maybe you aren’t following all that closely… If you need a hint, look at the name at the top of the page.

So, as at least some of you know, I’ve just gotten married. Specifically, I was married yesterday (August 21st) at around noon (we were supposed to start at 11:30AM, but arrival times and rain delayed things a bit). Yes, rain. It doesn’t often rain in Victoria in August (well, it usually rains at least once during the month, but that still leaves 30 chances in 31 that it won’t rain on any given day). On the 20th, there was sun. Today (the 22nd), there’s sun. Yesterday it poured.

I don’t actually mind the rain at all (in fact, it gave the ceremony a little bit of water (although, given that we were on (well, near (~25 metres away) a beach, we had plenty of water already)). I just hope that no one got sick as a result (it was cold too). And signing all the forms without getting them smudged was a bit of a job. But now it’s done. No more preparation, no more aggravating details to deal with, no more time and money to spend on it. And it went quite well too. Heather and Dennis (the high priestess/priest of the ritual) did an amazing job, and the ritual itself (which we cut by about 75% and re-wrote almost completely to suit ourselves) was really nice. It was also nice to see my friends and family, as well as Morgan’s friends and family (we had people from as far away as Iqaluit and Halifax there). And everyone there, including my grandfather (a retired United Church minister), seemed to really like the handfasting.

So now I’m married and, as such, operating under my married name. Which, I guess, makes “Quirt” my “maiden name” (a very weird thought). I must admit that I still don’t quite believe it at times. But it’s beginning to seem very natural, and it’s always seemed like the right thing to do, so I think I’m adjusting. At least until I have to start signing my name “York”. That should be good for a few laughs (although anyone who’s been reading this, or who’s spoken to Morgan recently, probably already knows that I’m good for many laughs — I just may be a touch absent-minded or something).

I could write more, but I think that that’s about as much as I really have the time and energy for at this point (between the (long, very long, and very tiring) trip and the wedding, I’m pretty much exhausted). So I will close with a couple of pieces of advice and “wisdom”:

If you’re getting married, elope
If there’s one day of rain a month, you’ll probably get it for the wedding
If you ask for “no gifts” expect some people not to believe you
If you want to travel across Canada, take at least a month
- And don’t schedule things in advance
- And stop at places that look interesting, rather than pressing on for several hours every day
- And take the time to actually enjoy the trip — it’s a beautiful country, and it’s worth the effort

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Entry last updated August 22, 2004