A Perfect Day

We're getting married.  During Hootin an Hollarin.  At the new farm.  And I want my first dance to be a square dance.

This was the wish of our only child.  She was coming home for her wedding.  And she wanted to make it extra special by having it during one of the busiest times of the year for Ozark County...Hootin an Hollarin.

And, of course, we said....Yes!

It rained off and on all week.  We worked on the new house to get it ready.  Plans were made, and re-made.  Friends helped and we were so very grateful for them and all they did.  Not an easy thing to entertain maybe 80 or 100 people for an outside wedding...with just a small house and porch for shelter.  But we forged ahead.

The day dawned bright and clear.  The perfect September day.  I don't remember much about it, as I was in a daze most of the time.  Things worked out.  The minister arrived and the crowd gathered.  The couple said their vows in front of family and friends, with the hills of her beloved Refuge in the background.  The perfect setting for a wedding.

We had borrowed a dance platform for the afternoon from the downtown square.  And when the couple was duly married we took our places for the dance.  Her request?  Whirl Like Thunder.  Her father was the caller.  Ladies bow, gents bow under, hold 'em tight and whirl like thunder.

And we did.  We swung and stomped and hollered.

Celebrating a new beginning.  Celebrating under the blue September sky.  Love and laughter, forever after.  A perfect wedding, on a perfect day.