Three Beautiful Things 09/01/17: Drive to Huntingdon, Arrival at the Homestead, Rehearsal and Dinner

1.  Today began with dropping the Deke off at the Diaz house and with me solo driving the Sube to Huntingdon, PA. It wasn't too long after I entered Pennsylvania that I was off the freeways and winding my way to Huntingdon on state and county roads through cornfields, thickly forested hills, small towns, and a lovely state park. I loved this drive. I'd never experienced so much of rural Pennsylvania and found this area, located in south central Pennsylvania, on the Appalachian ridges of the Alleghenies, arresting in its natural variety and beauty.

2. I made my way outside of the city limits a ways, up a hill to the end of  Oriskany Lane, where Julie and Curtis live in a house that has been in the Rockwell family for decades. Following and warm greeting from Julie and being introduced to Curtis, I got to meet Julie's mother, June, whom Julie as told me a great deal about in our correspondence over the last four years. She's witty, kind, and generous, just as Julie has told me. I also got to meet Curtis' father, Ken, who gave me a history of this sturdy old house that is now Julie and Curtis', and who told me about his, and his family's, many, many years as educators at Juniata College the private, liberal arts college in Huntingdon. He is very proud of the enduring legacy of Juniata's commitment to liberal arts undergraduate education and of his service to the school.

3. It wasn't long before the participants in Saturday's wedding ceremony caravanned out to the stone church at Manor Hill, built as a Presbyterian house of worship in 1825. We rehearsed the ceremony -- everyone has their cues, their marks, and knows where to be when.  We then all made out way to the rehearsal dinner on the patio of the Stone Town Cafe and Gallery where we enjoyed tender and juicy and tasty barbecue beef brisket, roasted potatoes, corn casserole, and dinner rolls followed by strawberries and whipped cream over flaky and light puff pastry. I think the festive mood is set for a joyous wedding day and that our goodwill and merriment will overcome any difficulties the rainy day might present.