Noccalula Falls

Good Wednesday morning!

My nephew, Brad, is 17 today, so I want to wish him a Happy Birthday (in print). His family party will be this weekend, and I'll have some pictures of that next week.

Brad and Austin are going to two different proms this year... Austin's is on a Friday night and Brad's prom is the next night. Bev and I found out this past weekend they are wearing the same tux, vest and tie. It's really funny because there must be 1,000 different vests and ties to choose from in the year 2009. Anything from hunter's orange to camouflage. (I had to fight Austin about that one since his date is wearing navy blue. Now if she had been wearing olive green or brown, I'm pretty sure I couldn't have talked him out of it.)

Another milestone for these two guys. One thing I've learned... milestones really don't ever stop, do they? We get so excited when the kids smile at three weeks, roll over, crawl, walk, etc., etc., etc. But the BIG EVENTS just keep on coming... first grade, driver's permit, driver's LICENSE, prom, graduation, college, marriage, etc., etc., etc. I have to admit, unless being the mother of a graduate is a milestone (which technically it isn't), I don't think I've had a milestone in quite some time... unless you count my wreck, needing bifocals and officially becoming pre-menopausal as milestones. And if those are milestones... Well, let's just say I'm looking forward to having grandchildren in the next ten or so years. Something we'll call "fun milestones."

Wedding Story - Part 3 - Lights Out!

I was asked to play the organ for a friend of a friend across town. Another friend was going to be playing the piano. I was to play the prelude music, Processional and Recessional on the organ, and the pianist was going to play the two solo pieces. All very "normal," but this was not going to be a "normal" wedding in any way, shape or form.

Since I was getting together with my friend after the wedding and I had a ride home, my parents were going to drive me to the church before they went to dinner. We left in plenty of time, although the church was 30 minutes away. About halfway to our destination, we came upon a set of railroad tracks. Now, railroad tracks by themselves... no big deal. However, these railroad tracks had the lights and bells going off and the arm was down blocking our crossing. We looked left and we looked right. No train. We waited a few more minutes (a/k/a seconds). No train.

I was getting a little impatient, but we were still okay time-wise. A train did need to make an appearance pretty soon though. Ahh. There in the distance (about 100 miles down the track) was a train. It was going all of two miles per hour. Maddening. Once it finally did reach us, it slowed down (if that was even possible) and came to a complete stop. WHAT!!! Having lived near a railroad track all my life, I knew it had stopped to let a faster train on the other track pass by. So now we were all looking to the left watching for yet another train. NOTHING!

Think. Think. Think. Was there another way to get to this church? Probably, but I wasn't from that area, and I had no idea which back roads to take to get there. Think. Think. Think. I needed to call someone to let them know what was happening so they could let my friend know he was going to have to play the piano without me. Oh, yeah. NO CELL PHONES. This was 1,000 years ago! Breathe. Breathe. Breathe. There was absolutely nothing I could do... but wait.

And wait we did. When the train finally passed, and the original train got out of the way, it was five minutes until show time and we were 15 minutes away from the church. Don't ask questions, but my dad got us there in four minutes! I jumped out of the car, ran up the steps to the church, apologizing and explaining and apologizing some more. This is where we stood... Friend - Unhappy; Bride - Very Unhappy; Groom - Totally Oblivious; Me - Flop Sweat Galore!

I set up my music, turned on the organ, took a deep breath, tried to stop shaking and started to play the first piece of the prelude music. BOOM! CRACK! (That was thunder and lightening in case you didn't know.) Light's out! In my mind, I simply prayed, "Thank you," knowing anything I played that evening was not going to be worth listening to in the state I was in.

But we were in a quandary (good word). The candlelight lit the sanctuary perfectly for the wedding, and I could see my friend at the piano shaking his head. I tiptoed through the choir loft over to him (with my music) and said, "It looks like it's all yours." He was a much, much better musician than I was, so the thrusting of this new situation upon him didn't throw him for a loop.

"That would be fine except I can't see," he hissed. That was true. The candlelight did nothing to help us in the "reading music" department.

"I'll be right back," I said and I slid down the wall and opened the door to the back of the church where the minister and groom were standing. Hoping the minister was from the church, I asked him for a flashlight. Thankfully, he was not a visiting minister and in a few minutes I had not one, but two flashlights... just in case.

I made my way back to the piano, feeling very happy with the turn of events and told my friend, "Play." And he did. And he did a marvelous job. Beautiful, actually. It was really one of the prettiest weddings I had ever attended. Since there were plenty of candles, everyone looked wonderful in the glow. I turned pages, held the flashlight and offered encouragement. I was a saint, I tell you.

I was a little worried about the pictures which were supposed to be taken after the ceremony. (That's me. Always thinking.) But as it turned out, right before the Recessional was to be played, the lights came back on. (No embellishment here. They really came back on at that time.) Everyone clapped and cheered, and my friend whispered, "Go play the Recessional."

I flicked off my flashlight and whispered back cheerfully, "Nope. No time to get to the organ. Take it home, friend!" And he did.

And I can honestly say, that was the first and only wedding where I didn't suffer from flop sweat the ENTIRE service. It was actually very, very relaxing! Looking back, I think I was a much better page turner/flashlight holder/encourager than a musician. (But the pay for that job wasn't nearly as good.)

Noccalula Falls

Noccalula Falls is a city-run park in Gadsden, Alabama. It costs $6 for adults; $3 for children ages 4 - 12; and children 3 and under are FREE. You can do all of the following for the entrance fee:

1. Hiking trail under the falls
2. Botanical gardens
3. Pioneer village
4. Petting zoo
5. Train rides (unlimited)
6. Playground
7. Picnic tables
8. Feed the ducks ($.25 for duck food)

They also have a mini-golf course, but it is an additional charge of $5 for adults and $4 for all children.

It is a great place to visit in the spring. The gardens are beautiful. There are plenty of things for kids of all ages to enjoy, even if it is just for an hour or two. Roxie and Monica were there for three hours and enjoyed every minute of it. (They didn't even play mini-golf.) There are pavilions to rent, but there are picnic tables here and there in the park available on a first-come/first-serve basis, so it doesn't have to be a very expensive day trip at all.

As a Seasonal Tradition, I'm not saying you should go to Noccalula Falls every year, but try to plan a Spring Day Trip every year. I'll have several more suggestions in April for inexpensive, but fun places to go for a day with the kids.

Have a wonderful Wednesday wherever you are! I'll be back tomorrow with the aforementioned fabulously fun date(s).

Talk to you on Thursday!