A Time For Every Purpose

And the beginning of this month it was time for a mountain top wedding in our beloved Harriman State Park.

Daniel Bieber (camp administrative director and my son) married Ayla Dunn (daughter of Scott Dunn, camp program director).

So we now have some extra ‘titles’ to add to our relationships: son-in law, daughter-in-law, fathers-in-law. Some people have joked that this was an arranged marriage, as in former dynasty days, to bring together two families (who have been close anyway from the time the ‘kids’ were young) in order to solidify and expand the ’empire’.

Those of you who have known us at The Nature Place over the last 30 years are probably smiling, knowing we say this with tongue very much in cheek. We are happy being who we are, nature-oriented and non-competitive. Those who have met us three bearded gentlemen – Ed, Scott, and Daniel – know that we appear more like the Smith brothers on the cough drop packages rather than the Koch brothers.

The day Ayla and Daniel chose for the wedding hike was unusual. For many weeks before and after the wedding date the weather was superb – sunny blue sky days, moderate temperatures, just perfect. But you can guess that day wasn’t.

With raincoats, long underwear, sweaters, hats, ponchos and boots, small groups of the 120 guests followed the winding, in some places steep, trail. It looked like a group of pilgrims forging ahead through  the cold and gray and wind-blown rain to finally arrive at their destination.

And they all did. The mountain top (which I had carried Daniel to the top of when he was a baby in my backpack) offered a 360 degree view of sky, mountains, lakes, the natural world everywhere you looked. Also on top the wind was stronger, the cold colder, the sky felt lower and darker and the rain began to come down more heavily. These conditions made the rather large group of us huddle close together as Daniel and Ayla, in their wedding finest (they got dressed on top of the mountain!) shared their wedding vows with what felt like the whole world as background. There was a flower girl and boy and a ring bearer.

All of us on the top seemed to make an invisible cocoon around us and the bride and groom. The environment felt electric (no, there were no thunderstorms), spiritual, dynamic. We all knew that this/everything was part of a truly authentic, magic moment that each of us present will keep forever. We were all reminded that even though the day was dark, the sun was still shining – you just had to imagine above the clouds.