Scaled Down, But Celebrating Nonetheless

Last year, amid the pandemic and prodigal parenting, we ditched plans to visit Mackinac Island to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary. I created a list of 30 small ways to celebrate. Alas, we only tackled a third of them. I wanted to be more intentional about snagging even a small way to get out and celebrate our 31st.

Thankfully, school resumed on the day of our anniversary. We were told on-line schooling was no longer an option this year. Thus, both boys headed off to school for the day, Trevor driving them in his convertible. We packed a picnic lunch and drove to Cataract Falls, Indiana's largest waterfall. Ha! Having been to Niagara Falls a few years back, this "largest waterfall in Indiana" was miniscule. Still, it was lovely and peaceful and we had a fantastic day together.

We explored the upper falls and a graffiti-scarred, covered bridge. I found this very disheartening. Why, oh why, must people feel the need to leave their mark on something of beauty? Various names, dates, and declarations of love marred every inch of the interior walls of that covered bridge. Some misguided individuals even attempted to use this criminal activity to pronounce their faith. Seriously? You write on property that doesn't belong to you, saying Jesus matters?? Even worse, those statements were then altered to say "Satan matters" - ugh! John kept trying to get me to ignore the blights, but I was discouraged by those violations.

The weather was perfect. With a cool breeze and a shady picnic table, we ate without being accosted by too many bees or bugs. Then, placing our trash back in our vehicle (another pet peeve, I won't get started), we headed off on a hike to the lower falls. 

It is amazing how many people ignore signage and do whatever they want. We saw individuals wading with their children in the water, stepping behind prohibiting signs to get closer to the falls, and fishing off the other side of the rock walls (how did the guy get there?).

Still, we had a perfect day of precious time together. After all that invigorating exercise, we returned home, and I took a brief nap. We ended the day, with a date night out to eat.

To cap off our celebrating, we drove to Urbana this past weekend for a brief visit with my mother-in-law. We attended a matinee performance of an amateur play based on the Oz stories, but with a feel of fan-fiction. Our friend, Heidi, did a fantastic job as the music director. It was fun to listen to her accompaniment, to see the ballet portion of the performance, and to hear some songs, anyway. We will have to go back again because our brief catch-up with Heidi in the hall after the performance whet our appetite for a lengthier visit. Given the recent uptick in murder and crime in Indianapolis, we delighted in the opportunity to take in a play in a safer environment. All in all, our celebrations outpaced last year!