Family Ceremonies and New Beginnings

Ceremonies of life happen every day - celebrations of birth, memorial gatherings at deaths, christenings, and, of course, marriages. In the old days - those dark ages that still may exist in some cultures or families - marriage was forever. Thank goodness that's not always the case any more. These days, in most areas of the world, marriages can be ended and lives can continue on separate pathways. 

Life Bridge Brewing Co took its name from the bridge that
used to cross the St Croix River from Stillwater, Minnesota to
Houlton, Wisconsin. Although the old bridge has been
replaced by a newer one, it lives on as a pedestrian
bridge and a well-loved symbol of this riverfront town. 

Tonight, DH and I will head east to join our larger family at the wedding and celebration for our youngest nephew. It's his second marriage and he's found a really lovely person to share his life with. He has a son, I think Ian is around eleven years old now. His new bride has a daughter, a year or three younger than Ian. Together they're making a new family and I'm hoping this one will be good for everyone. They deserve it - they're all really nice people with some really cool kids. 

Founded in 2008, Lift Bridge Brewing has established itself as a
serious player in the craft brew market. They expanded their
taproom in 2018, and offer tours and other events at the brewery
throughout the year. I haven't been there before, so I'm looking
forward to this. 

The wedding itself and the celebration afterward will take place at a craft brewery in Stillwater, near the banks of the St Croix river. I dressed up for his first wedding, a large and rather pretentious gathering of two very disparate families. I'm dressing down a bit for this one - it's in a brewery, and it's a lot more laid-back and fun. So, leggings, a mustard-colored shirt and a fabulous knee-length heavily hand-painted jacket DH purchased for me in Santa Fe, New Mexico many years ago. It'll be good, and I'm looking forward to the celebration and getting together with my relatives once more. 

In addition to their beers, they also brew a non-alcoholic
root beer, some different cream sodas, and several
hard seltzers. I suspect there's something here for
almost anyone's taste buds. 

Of course, when I last saw everybody, I was fighting with my alopecia and hadn't been able to see my dermatologist yet, so I was wearing silken scarves. Now I'm bald and bold - a certain change for everyone who hasn't seen me. It should be a fun night, and I'll have a chance to see the new tattooed sleeve my youngest niece's husband was in the process of getting when I last saw him. All good. 

The old Stillwater Lift Bridge still exists, but it's restricted to pedestrian
or bicycle traffic only. The entire center section is raised to allow river
traffic to pass underneath. This would lead to long traffic jams as cars
waited for the bridge section to lower once again. A new bridge now
spans the St Croix River nearby and raising the bridge no longer causes
massive traffic backups through town. 

So have a great weekend. I'm unsure whether we'll go to the final day of Renaissance Festival or not. There's really no reason to go - we've been there each weekend and have seen it all by now. I wouldn't mind catching up on some sleep and working on the house until the football game starts in the late afternoon. We'll see. What I DO know is I'll be back on Monday. Have a truly fabulous weekend!