Toothsome

Double date at our dentist's this morning, the nonegenarian and I; our dear dentist told me her 92 year old mother died earlier this week, and her 90 year old dad seems to be all right, other than wanting to sit with the body for several hours before cremation. She wondered if this was normal behavior. Since they had been married for 65 years, we concurred that he was probably having a hard time saying good bye; there isn't any old Chinese custom involved.
The multicultural day flew on, culminating in a wedding of one of our kid's old school and soccer chums from years gone by. He was also one of my Spanish students and soccer kids in elementary school. The bride is from South Africa, and last year they had a traditional tribal celebration, including the ritual slaughter of a goat by the father-in-law to be. He is an orthopedic surgeon, but told us it was horrible to have to slit the animal's throat with a rather dull knife. This ceremony was held on a big old boat moored down on Lake Union, and was very interesting, even to me, who usually dislikes these kinds of things. About forty of the bride's family and friends traveled from J-Burg, South Africa, to be billeted around town in various homes and hotels and feted for a week. Particulary nice, I thought, was the singing and ululation that broke out spontaneously during the ceremony. Lots of toasting, and the inevitable roastng of the groom, by his younger brother.