Marriage is in many ways a simplification of life, and it naturally combines the strengths and wills of two young people so that, together, they seem to reach farther into the future than they did before. Above all, marriage is a new task and a new seriousness, - a new demand on the strength and generosity of each partner, and a great new danger for both. --Rilke

Sixteen days until Jeffrey and I embark on a great new danger. Come to find out, our pianist embarked on a great new danger a few days back and now has a cracked shoulder, several broken ribs, and gasoline in his eyes. Not a big deal. The shorter the ceremony, the more time everyone has to haul their fancy selves to the reception.

A bus hijacking/wreck occurred yesterday morning in Manchester, which is not too far from Nashville. Of course, everyone at work is itching for another terrorist event, and I had to spend the day hearing ridiculous comments such as:
"They say the hijacker was Croatian. Wasn't Bin Laden Croatian before he moved to Afghanistan?"
"I'm sure Taliban fighters are more inclined to ride a bus once they get to our country."
"I hope the train companies are getting ready. It's their turn."
"Pretty soon nobody with dark skin will be allowed on planes or busses."

Dear Lord, help them. Of course, I blame it on television's glamorization. To see a fireman walking in slow motion towards the rubble in Manhattan as Enya sings the same song that she sings when we find out that Rachel is pregnant on Friends... We're being played like a fiddle! And all of us with gasoline in our eyes...