Fifty years and counting...

September 1, 2023 marked our 50th Wedding Anniversary. What an accomplishment, right?  And, we seem to be perking right along.  We look forward to more good years. 

I'm going to begin this post just before our big day started.  

This first couple of pictures were taken the evening of August 31st.  It is the night of the super blue Moon and in the first, you can also see Saturn at about 11 o'clock to the Moon.  

I'd like you to notice the difference between this picture and the next.  This one shows almost no detail of craters, the moon is as fully and directly lit as it gets.  (taken Aug. 31, 2023)

While this picture is beginning to show that the light, striking the Moon from about 9 o'clock to 2 o'clock, now allows a hint of cratering to begin to show.  (taken Sept. 1, 2023) 

And so, on to our significant day. (Our 18,250th day together)  

The morning of our anniversary started with excitement. Jeanne told me that she had been told by our friend Dave, last evening, that her picture was up on a billboard near the village.  Well, I had to run out and get a photo of that immediately.  The sun wasn't even fully up then when I took the picture that I used for today's header photo. Therefore, Jeanne came back with me later, and we took the following excellent shot.

After completing this documentation, we continued on to the train station and rode to Grafton, where we disembarked and walked up to the Auckland Museum.

Our objective at the museum were the two T-rex skeletons. If you are interested in seeing the post I did in March on this pair of Yankee critters, I've attached a link below this picture.  

https://fostersoe.blogspot.com/2023/03/tyrannosaurus-rex-mr-and-mrs.html

From here, we walked down to Maison Vauron for lunch. We had crusty ham and cheese sandwiches and small cups of exceedingly strong and motivating coffee.  

After lunch we decided not to return to the Grafton Train Station but to vary our experience by walking to the Newmarket Station instead.  

All in all, we walked 3.25 miles (thank you Google Maps) on our 50th and had a wonderful time.  We had enough energy left over to attend happy hour at the village. We were applauded midway through it when John read the birthday notices, the notice of our achievement and told a few jokes. Later, Allie and the boys picked up Thai takeaway for our dinner. Afterwards we adults toasted the day with champagne and some really fancy Gold Medal Old Muscat Liqueur that Allie found at Mazuran's.  

It was a pleasant day and a quiet one. Well, those two aren't quite right when I think about it. I don't know the right descriptive word. I'm not sure there is a word that perfectly describes the sort of day it was. I felt at times as though I was watching ourselves move through it. We were relaxed and confident and unrushed and enjoying and satisfied.  

Once, very early on, before we were even married, I had a dream.  It was a very simple one. In it I was sitting on a hillside with Jeanne, leaning against the same large tree.  Our shoulders were close to one another, maybe a couple of inches apart. We weren't doing anything but sitting and looking at what lay below us. We were old. I knew this because another me was watching us sit there. 

I felt very satisfied in that dream and peaceful as we sat, and I knew that Jeanne felt the same way.  We were in no hurry, we had nothing to do. We were just there, together. As a young man, I had no clue about what our future held, but that dream impressed me and I've never forgotten it.  It's the first of what I consider the major dreams of my life.   

I think that as we went through our anniversary day, I felt a little of what I felt in the dream. I think it means that we have arrived in our lives at the point I dreamt of.  That is noteworthy, and satisfying. We've made it.  Everything else we experience in the future is gravy.   

Thank you for sharing our day.  -djf

And speaking of gravy. Here are a couple of shots I took on September 2, 2023.  

This weird, somewhat flattened Moon was just above the horizon. 

Here it is a couple of hours later. You can see the cratering developing. I'd love it if the nights continue somewhat clear and I could extend this sequence.  

And look here. I couldn't focus on my friend the night of August 31st, when the humidity was almost 90%, but it was down to 84% tonight, and I got this...I can't tell you how pleased I am.