Courtly countdowns and such

Well, the countdown is beginning, or did it begin several months ago?  By the time most of us arise in the morning, the prince will have married his princess.

I've heard lot of snide remarks aimed at people who would waste their time watching the royal wedding, but that doesn't deter me from being mildly interested.  

What does deter me is the timing.  

For one who hits the hay at 9-9:30 and gets up at 5 a.m., I would be lucky to keep my eyes open long enough during live wedding coverage to see some spit-shined doorman do his job with ultimate formality while someone important in the wedding party steps out for all to see.  

That's usually how it is from 8 p.m. on for me.  Last night I managed to watch almost the full 55 minutes or so of Matt Lauer and Meredith Veira's NBC special on the royal wedding.  

But long about 8:50, I was snoozing into another world.

At least, I got to see all the horse activity and a snippet or two on what happens in the barns.  

For a few, brief, shining moments, I felt really connected with the royals as they kept showing those manure carts being lugged down the aisle between the horse stalls.

A touch of the common folk, if you ask me, and a nice sight, indeed.

I like the pomp and circumstance of history, and this event definitely starts a new chapter in the long line of British royalty that we Americans have studied in our history and literature books.  

After all, we're basically one degree of separation from the Brits, so a lot of our traditions and ways could be traced back to the formality they do so well.

I was interested last night to see the hats being selected by wedding guests.  I wondered if those tiny, simple hats with a few prominent feathers which we saw on the heads of some wedding guests in Belfast City Hall last month were possibly the rage.

Looks like there's more substance to at least some of the hats to be worn in tomorrow's ceremony.

I just read that "the dress" is still top secret.  

Well, maybe now is a good time to divulge the long-kept secret that my wedding dress cost $25.  It was hand-made by one of my student's (Lisa Thompson Greene's) mother.  

I picked out some lovely country cotton, trimmed with tiny pink flowers, along with a pattern and handed it over to Mrs. Thompson.  As I think back on it, I believe the bridesmaid dresses and my mother's dress cost a lot more than my wedding gown.

Still, it worked.  Almost 37 years later, the Loves are still the same couple.  

Yeah, the royal family is a long way up the ladder socially from most of us, but I still admire them for their history, their service to country and their interests that relate to us commoners.  

Heck, I'll bet the Queen has maybe even picked up a manure fork and flung a little horse poop in her day. . . behind the scenes, of course. 

It could be that Kate and William may have or might also get that experience some day too.  After all, horses are integral to their lives.

And, that ain't all bad.

Having watched and loved "The King's Speech" twice, I'm looking forward to seeing the reruns of tomorrow's royal wedding and to admiring the beauty of it all, especially those horses.