Ragfields on the Atlantic

This weekend, Rob and I went to Wilmington, North Carolina to the wedding of Rob’s friends Meryl and Joe. Its on the Altantic Coast—that’s a long way away from Urbana. On Friday, we loaded up Iris and drove as far as Greensboro (about 12 hours away), where we stayed with our friend Matt, who we haven’t seen in ages. Then onto the wedding festivities (3-1/2 hours more driving) on Saturday.

The wedding was in a beautiful, historic cathedral in downtown Wilmington. The ceremony was a little weird—the priest told a story about his brother-in-law who died of liver cancer, and at one point he called Meryl “Marl,” which is not her name at all. Everyone in the cathedral, including the bride and groom, was trying not to laugh.

Congratulations, "Marl" and Joe

Ragfields at the wedding. We clean up real good, I think.

After the wedding, we had about 2 hours until the reception started, so Rob and I and his friends hung out in downtown Wilmington. We found a super-ritzy ice cream shop, and Rob made a bee-line for it. That surprised me, since he usually only eats ice cream about once or twice per year. But I guess this was his big splurge. The choices at this shop were overwhelming; you could get all sorts of mix-ins and flavors, etc. I could not make a decision faced with all these options and told Rob to pick out something for me. He chose plain vanilla, and for himself, chocolate. It was a wise choice—the best vanilla ice cream I’ve ever had, as it ought to have been with a $4 price tag!

By the time the reception started (at a fancy historic mansion downtown), it was pouring down rain! The bride and groom had to enter underneath an umbrella, and the party—which was supposed to be outside—had to be moved indoors. The rain didn’t dampen anyone’s spirits though; we stayed out until the wee hours of the morning.

Melissa and Erin sharing a slow-dance at the reception

On Sunday, Rob and I went to the beach, and I got to see the Atlantic Ocean for the first time. Those who are familiar with my obsession with the ocean will understand how much I enjoyed this. In addition to hanging out at the beach, I ran about 7 miles and Rob rode his bike (which we had packed in Iris). The ocean was just a bit chilly, but it felt especially good after all of this. After taking a salty dip, I lay out on the beach and actually fell asleep for a while (nice, considering my recent bout of insomnia), although this did result in me getting quite sunburned. Oh well, I guess it will probably be my last sunburn for a while.

Ragfields at the Atlantic Ocean

We drove back to Greensboro on Sunday night to stay with Matt again. We watched him play a soccer game, which was fun, and I actually had to use Rob’s nifty new iPhone to do some work (catching up on emails).

Matt and Rob

Ragfields on the way home

We spent the day today (Monday) driving back to Urbana. The party is officially over, and I’m back to the manic levels of stress that keep me up all night. I’ve traded in my “block grant” this semester (a stipend for doing nothing except readjusting and working on my dissertation) to TA a course, and next semester I have accepted a position to teach a course all by myself. As in, there is no other professor… I am the professor. I am excited but terrified and hoping this is a good opportunity that will help me get a job when I’m finished, rather than something that is going to prevent me from ever finishing. At any rate, its been a very long day, and its time for me to take a Tylonol PM and try to get some sleep so I can get up and work tomorrow. Thanks for reading.

Back in Urbana, where they're proud of the truly important things in life....