Massachusetts

Sometime last year, talking with someone but I can't remember who, we decided the most memorable trips combine a special setting with good relationships. For that reason I had a better time in Sudan five years ago than on the south island of New Zealand in 2010, which perhaps seems counterintuitive.

We had a memorable trip to Nantucket last weekend that met both criteria. It was the wedding of Mary Blount to Ernie Lapp, friends of mine who, in conjunction with Ernie's sister-in-law, I introduced. They came to our wedding in October. It was a wonderful happy event, and the weather was perfect (for an island on the Atlantic in January).

I worked on Nantucket as a nanny the summer of 2003 and it holds a special place in my heart. Mary was a friend from that time, an islander. I've become friends in the past year-and-a-half with the Lapps, and we got to spend the entire weekend with them in the same minivan feeling like two of the cousins.

Lifesaver
Surfside beach
Radiant bride and groom
Brother Jerry who came to our wedding too, nephew H
Niece M
I really like the beard but his mom and sister do not
Then we spent two days in Boston, neither of us having been there before. We stayed with Tom's old family friends and he and our host gloried in theological debates morning and night. We also had lunch with Cheyenne contacts of Tom's, Pat and Tammy McLeod, Harvard chaplains. Their fun news of the week must have come after we saw them, because their son Zack was Tim Tebow's guest at the Broncos/Patriots game last night. It had southeast Wyoming all atwitter.

Sever Hall detail
Door detail in Harvard Square
Harvard Memorial Church