You got married!? Why??

The year was 1971, two years after the original Woodstock music festival. Themes of the day were flower power, hippies, and “make love not war”. My friends would shack up with their current boyfriend, then move on to the next one; no commitment needed.

“Why not?” we thought – get married that is. After all, we’d been dating “exclusively” for almost four years, and we’d reached the mature age of 20 and 21. We could make our own adult decisions! (Actually, we could, since age 20 marked the milestone where you wouldn’t need your parents’ permission to get married in our native Denmark).

Off we went in a taxi to the Townhall to get married, just the two of us.

Today, 49 years later we took off again, just the two of us. This time Kaj was driving our Jeep Wrangler to Mount Baldy, one of our favorite (and least accessible) spots on the ranch.

It was a beautiful day. The grass was green and the spring flowers turned their smiling faces towards the April sun. Blanca the guard dog joined us as we hiked up the mountainside – she’d chased the Jeep for 2½ miles and wouldn’t miss the grand finale. If only the kids and grandkids could have been here too! But with shelter-in-place orders there was no way. We thought we’d at least send them a photo of our grinning faces, cheering with Six Sigma wine, with the much-loved landscape in the background.

It was windy when we reached the top of the mountain. Really windy. Kaj lifted the bottle out of the picnic basket, and the basket almost blew off the bench. We know from experience how it goes if you let go of your wine glass when the wind is howling like this at the top of Baldy.  Have you ever tried taking a selfie while holding on to your hat and your wine glass?

We are grateful that the kids are safe in their homes or working at essential business. But we really could have needed an extra hand!