A very Minnesota celebration

Congratulations to our friends Jason and Lisa! They got married in early June in upstate New York, but we celebrated this past weekend out on Medicine Lake.

Getting a pavilion on the lake is no easy feat during the summer in this state. Dave put signs up the night before that were very Minnesota Nice. They said something to the effect of: 'We know we can't really reserve this space, but we are reserving it for Saturday evening. You can use it if you want, but we'll be here at 3:30 pm to use it.'

Dave showed up sometime around 11:30 am to stake out the space. Jack and I showed up at two in the hot, muggy, drippy afternoon. We were constantly telling people 'we have a party here' all day. I started putting up decorations and stuff on every table. They still didn't get the hint.

About 25 or 30 of Jason and Lisa's coworkers and friends trickled in throughout the evening. The weather started clouding up. It started to rain. Tornado sirens started going off. The lifeguards packed up and left. On their way out, they advised us to leave. Did that stop us? Nope.

In what is definitely a sign of the times, people started taking their smart phones out and comparing radars. Fueled quite possibly by the fact we had no backup plan, we decided to stay. Cooking and eating followed. Then, the guys challenged a neighboring pavilion to a volleyball game. We started packing up when people started comparing radars again and saying another line of storms were coming through. Best not to tempt fate twice. I would say it was just in the nick of time, but it wasn't. Several people got stuck in the storm on their way home.

So, we packed up and left. The only dismal failure of the party was the sweet corn debacle. We couldn't move the stationary grill under the pavilion, so during the first rainstorm our small fire was sheltered only by a big pot of sweet corn that got ready just as we were about to leave. I worried beforehand that I didn't have anything to pass out as party favors... I shouldn't have worried because the gallon-sized bags of sweet corn seemed to please folks just fine!

How very Minnesotan of us all.