Headed to Tucson...

Tomorrow we head out to Tucson - land of the great sun and dear friends - for a wedding and some vacation time at the end of winter. Both Di and I are VERY excited and are ready for a little change - and a lot of warm! Then it is back to the intensity of Lent and Holy Week - and the blessed feast of Easter.

We'll be doing a wedding for two very sweet and intense young people this weekend (and visiting with some of our dearest friends) and let's not forget our favorite Mexican eateries! The couple requested that I play the Beatles' "Blackbird" as their processional which led Di to think that Eva Cassidy's version of Christine McVie's "Songbird" would be a great closer for the recessional. What a truly sweet song...

(We always wanted to do this with our Tucson band - that close three part women's harmony - but it never came to pass, alas. The groom's momma was one of the great women singers in this band so we really wanted to share something lovely and Dianne's rendering will be just right!) It will be a tender musical gift to our young friends - and their folks whom we love with all our hearts. Like the wedding ring vows say:

I give you this gift as a symbol of my vows - and with all that I am and all that I have - I honor you in the name of God: Creator, Christ and Holy Spirit. Amen.

After the festivities of the wedding, we will have three days to chill - and one of our commitments is to go dancing at our favorite dive: The Chicago Bar. We had hoped that our rock and roll buddies, the Rowdies, would be playing but they must be taking a spring vacation. (Check out the Rowdies lead man, Chris Davis, in this old tune filmed behind his house.)

We may not have a natural reason to head back to Tucson much after this wedding - this one was a total surprise and a gift - so we will cherish it and make the most of the time available.