Imaginative Dispostion, Creative Pleasures

I received a wedding invitation today from one of my all time closest friends. He and I met back in middle school and have been the best of friends since high school. He is getting married this April. I would give anything to go to his wedding. He used to say that he would never get married…I used to tell him that was impossible; he had to much love to give. I remember that he loved to discuss music, his passion, and we used to have the most interesting religious discussions. We were of different faiths, but I never felt so respected. He is getting married on the 8^th of April. I’ve been looking at plane tickets but they are far out of my price range at the moment. I like to pretend...make plans that I am actually going.

They’re wedding is taking place in Charleston, South Carolina. If I had to choose one place to spend a weekend in South Carolina, it would be Charleston. It is a wonderful place, full of art and beauty and culture. It is on the coast and there is a street known as Rainbow Row where all the houses are painted in different colors. You can take a carriage ride past rainbow row for a small fee. It also has the most delightful black market. Given its name because slaves were auctioned off there, it now houses the goods produced by a culture once enslaved. You can watch the making of and buy handmade sweet grass baskets at inordinately high prices. Booths line the streets with handmade crafts, necklaces and rings, rock candy in all different colors and sizes, the most delicious fudge you’ve ever tasted, crystals and pet rocks, clothes, toys, a potpourri of tourist mingling about looking for the best deal and feeling like somehow they are taking away a bit of culture with them. Along the coast you can visit the old battlements. In the city there is great dining and museums and music. Every summer they hold ‘Spoleto’ which is a week long artistic assemblage. I went to my first Opera down at Spoleto. There are jazz concerts and bluegrass, a field full of paintings, ballets and concerts. Show after show…street venders selling their craft…A truly magnificent experience for the artistically minded and culturally curious.

Of course this all comes from the memories of happy past experiences and could be distorted in fact, but oh how I long to go to Charleston again. But mostly I long to attend my friend’s wedding. He will be there making one of the most important vows of his life, and I want to celebrate with him. My other best friend shall be in attendance as well. I think of how pleasant the whole event will be. I play out the conversations in my head and the flowers and the dresses and friendship. I want to be a part of it. But alas travel by plane from Utah to South Carolina is not cheap. It may end up just playing out in my mind and never in reality, but either way what a splendid event is shall be.