The wedding was a two kilometer hike from campus, over volcanic rubble and through spiky shrubs. I'm not sure why I bothered to get cleaned up first. My dress outfit was a tidy version of my field gear with a colorful wide-brimmed hat, so I was at least better prepared than some. Quin tried to wear a dress. Once we got to the site, however, I could see why the couple had been insistent.
The hot spring had been bubbling up carbonates undisturbed for millennia, building up shelf upon shelf of steaming basins. Microbes tinted the rock every color the rainbow, and large crystals glittered jewel-like from the sides and bottoms of pools. Centuries of erosion had weathered away previous layers leaving caverns and chasms in the hillside with active pools growing up over them. The whole effect was that of a fairy wonderland. Humid and smelling somewhat of sulfur, but breathtakingly beautiful.
Volunteers had built a gazebo and pews in sweeping fractal shapes, mimicking the landscape. Finally it was clear where all the blue dot stock has disappeared to; they must have had the printers running full time for weeks! Every surface was covered in quotes from, or tiny busts of, famous physicists, scholars and poets. I had my elbow in Albert Einstein's eye most of the ceremony.
Bell officiated, albeit remotely. There were pauses during the vows due to the G.Agricola's orbit, some awkward and some funny. He wore his traditional uniform, which also got quite a few snickers. I found myself staring at the little patch of fabric over his left breast that read "va-Maudlin". If technology has failed so badly that I resort to reading things stitched into cloth, I'm guessing the captain's name is not the most critical thing I'll need to know.
Laser and Bianci seem very young to be getting married. I don't know them well -- they are both under Arch ur-Zurekler in physics -- but they seem like nice kids. They took the ceremony with a mixture of seriousness and humor, which I imagine is a good sign. I always cry at weddings. This was no exception, but my tears betrayed a little tang of the tragic.
Nothing to do with them. It's just something about spending a decade or more getting to some place, and then not knowing if it's the right place to be.
Comments