BY MARY O‘BRIEN
One Fine Celebration
Tamales, high notes, trail vows
and a wolfish ring-bearer
L
ast week, Laura Saxe and my son Josh
had a lot more fun getting married than I
did 38 years ago. I had followed all the
rules. The virgin Mary walked down the aisle in a
white dress (albeit a short cotton one). At the
end of that aisle stood my United Presbyterian
minister father; four bridesmaids in matching
flowered dresses; and four grooms and my fi-
ancé, O’B, all in suits. After the church service,
in which my father gave a sermon he had given
JOSH AND LAURA
in other weddings, everyone got a piece of
white-frosted cake and lemonade. O’B and I did
“ Ja ck s on , ” La u ra
do one thing we really wanted to do that day: in
ca l le d to h er wo l f
the late afternoon we headed out to begin an
eight-week camping trip hat would end in
d es ce n d e nt , w h o ma d e
Madison, Wisc., for graduate school.
h is w ay u p to La u r a
Pregnant Laura and Josh, on the other hand,
f
did everything they wanted to for their three-day, r o m a mo n g th e re st of
50-guest beach wedding on the Oregon Coast.
u s. Ti e d i n h is r e d n ec k -
The day before the wedding, Josh and Laura
e r ch i e f we re tw o s il v e r
hiked with us along an estuary, crossed the spit
beside a patch of endangered Western lilies, and r i n g s. Ja ck s o n s to od
returned by beach in time for steamed tamales p a ti e n tl y l o ok i n g u p a t
Josh had brought up from Davis.
h is t w o f r ie nd s a s t he y
“Oh,” a gas station attendant had asked him
a n n ou n ce d t he ir i n te n -
when he saw Josh’s steamer. “Do you play in one
t i o n to l i ve to ge t he r
of those steel bands?”
“Well, actually it’s a tamale steamer for a wed- t he r es t o f t h e ir l i v e s.
ding,” Josh answered.
“Do you cater weddings?” the attendant tried again hopefully.
“Well, actually it’s my wedding,” Josh added.
“Boy, someone is getting a good catch!” he concluded triumphantly.
The night before the wedding we had a competition to decorate six small
cakes. The team of Laura’s outrageous Aunt Jane from Mexico won the “cheesi-
est” award, with its miniature brides, grooms and champagne glasses. My team
won the “most spiritual” award with its array of grass flowering heads and rose
petals hijacked from the front yard.
The morning of the wedding Josh led another hike to Cape Lookout. My
African-American nephew from Washington, D.C., wondered aloud about
whether he would see something unusual, and said he’d heard that bald eagles
have three-foot wingspans. A few minutes later he spotted six seals far below,
and a bald eagle soared above our heads.
A Peruvian-Mexican friend of Laura’s has a license from the Internet to per-
form marriages, so she started the wedding by explaining the agenda. First Aunt
Jane and Laura’s mother Barbara would sing “Ash Grove.” I don’t know whether
it was the damp air or emotion, but Aunt Jane crashed twice on the high notes
with endearing hilarity.
Then folks could tell stories about Josh and Laura. No one knew this was com-
ing, so there wasn’t a polished story among them, but each was memorable.
Biology graduate student Jim Martin played guitar and sang a song he and one
of Laura’s friends had written 45 minutes earlier. “Laura, Laura, what you gonna
do?” introduced each verse, which was about Josh regularly turning up late,
cooking dinner slowly, and taking most of the night to eat.
Laura and Josh next told stories about each other. Laura told how when they
first began to live together five years ago, Josh had not paid much attention to
her border collie, Jackson, because he’s a domestic animal. Once she reminded
him that this was a descendant of wolves, Jackson entered Josh’s heart. Josh
told of listening to Laura sing softly one night when she thought he was asleep,
and of dancing recently in an all-too-rare Davis rain.
And vows. “Jackson,” Laura called to her wolf descendent, who made his way
up to Laura from among the rest of us. Tied in his red neckerchief were two sil-
ver rings. Jackson stood patiently looking up at his two friends as they an-
nounced their intention to live together the rest of their lives. Josh and Laura
promised (among other things) to walk hand in hand along a thousand trails in
the woods (Josh’s passion) and watch basketball games together (Laura’s).
After our home-cooked dinner, a number of us stood together on the beach,
watching seals, seagulls and pelicans mob fish as the evening darkened. Worlds
— human, domestic and wild — had all been married during this one, fine celebra-
tion. It had followed all the truly essential rules.
Mary O’Brien of Eugene has worked as a public interest scientist since 1981. She can be reached at mob@efn.org
4 JULY 7, 2005
TO THE EDITOR
HEART OF OUR CITY
Those of us who have been downtown for
many years or have opened businesses down-
town within the last few years are excited to see
a renewed interest in what we consider to be the
heart of our city. We greet the plans for new re-
tail, living and office space with enthusiasm.
It is reassuring that the developers in-
volved are all familiar with this community
and have announced an interest in doing
something that will make Eugene a better
place. We appreciate the potential for this
project to open up new opportunities for busi-
nesses to occupy well-maintained space that
is affordable and viable.
Clearly there is a lot of space to fill, and a
lot of planning yet to do. As independent retail-
ers, it is our hope that the retail brought to
Downtown Eugene will be as eclectic as the
city itself. It is critically important to have
many different kinds of retail in a given area to
make it successful. We hope that the visions of
Connor and Woolley and the Guistinas include
local retailers who offer shopping experiences
that can’t be found elsewhere. Local busi-
nesses can provide an experience that caters
specifically to residents and visitors of Eugene
and Lane County.
Downtown Eugene already offers many
great shopping, dining and entertainment op-
tions. With the investment of Connor and
Woolley and the Guistinas, those options can
blossom more fully. Hopefully what grows will
be something that reflects the personality of
which Eugeneans have always been so proud.
Reisa Maddex,
Footwise The Birkenstock Store
Stacy Bierma
Harlequin Beads & Jewelry
Aimee Allen & Ken Herrin, Letterhead
Lisa & Norman Read, Freudian Slip
DOWNTOWN BUZZ
There is this buzz in the air, a palpable en-
ergy over our downtown revitalization possi-
bilities, with major property owners voicing
their intentions. Then there are these passion-
ate creative visionaries such as Don Kahle
with his recent thoughts on Eugene as a great
riverfront city with a grand parkway flowing
through it. This connection between Eugene
and its surrounding environment, reconnect-
ing people with nature, seems a natural!
Another recent inspiring editorial envi-
sioned Eugene as an arts destination. With the
recent additions to our arts community of
DIVA, Opus VI and the reopening of the
Schnitzer Art Museum we are well on our
way.
I attended the June First Friday Art Walk
and wandered about on foot. It was actually
bustling with activities and people. If you
haven’t been downtown lately, you should
check it out. Each new piece that is added to
the puzzle draws more anticipation. Eugene
feels right on the brink of some good, positive
change. Talk of a major grocery store is great,
though I personally wish it were a local gro-
cer such as Market of Choice being consid-
ered. This all reminds me of the line in the
movie Field of Dreams: “If you build it, they
will come.” We have our collective
“Downtown of our Dreams” and similarly, if
they build it, we will have to come to make it
a success!
Let’s keep the ideas flowing, the discus-
sion happening and the passion rising! These
are exciting times locally, let’s work together
and enjoy them. Let’s make this fun. How
about a theme song, maybe “On Broadway,”,
or Petula Clark’s “Downtown”? Just a
thought.
Tim Boyden
Eugene
SERVING THE RULERS
Many officers involved with the Eugene
and Springfield police departments have a
history of abusing their authority. The recent
murder of an unarmed Thurston High School
student should make people in this commu-
nity aware of the importance of monitoring
the actions of police who victimize those who
they are allegedly supposed to protect.
The police and those in authority have al-
ways used their power to suppress the efforts
made by compassionate people to build a