I’ve been preoccupied. My oldest son’s wedding was on the weekend. I’m sharing a couple of pictures. The bride’s family came from Colombia. Because of work, they were only able to visit for a week.  I was disappointed that we were having unusually cold weather here in Calgary. On their arrival, (March 7), they were greeted by minus 23 C – cold even by Canadian standards. Their hometown has never seen frost (the lowest temperature ever recorded there was 15 C, about 60 F) and is usually 35 C, summer/winter and almost day/night.

Well, I didn’t need to feel apologetic for the crime committed by our weather gods. They loved experiencing the frost-biting cold and they loved seeing snow for the first time in their lives.  Here’s what it looks like when my son takes his new in-laws out for the real-deal, Calgary-style cultural experience. A cold, cold Canadian wedding with warm, warm feelings of love and happiness.

Carmen, my son David, his wife Yesenia, and her brother, Danny

It was a beautiful Latin-Canadian ceremony with a blend of North and South American traditions. My son’s new wife has been in Canada awhile and is a language teacher.  Her visiting family stayed in our home for a few days, tasting maple syrup, my wife’s Hungarian cooking, and some locally produced honey.

The honey was an especially big hit – apparently the only honey seen in Colombia by this family is as thin as water and as dark as molasses – and not particularly sweet. Thinking that it might just be a sugary syrup, I asked, “Miel de abejas?“  and they told me that is was and they seldom ate it.

In contrast to their local honey, they liked our thick, white, mild version – a good reminder that if you give people something really delicious, it’s appreciated. Either that, or guests from South America are especially gracious – something I certainly noticed during the past week.

I’ll leave you with one more picture. This was the moment that the newest Mr and Mrs Miksha celebrated their partnership. My grandson, the ring-bearer, thought it was rather funny.