Bethy Forces an Audible

So this is where it was supposed to happen, you see. This photo looks like we're in a thick forest, but we're actually up in Bethy's tree on Denman. Very cool tree, unlike any I'd ever seen -- sort of a ring of branches in a circle, none thicker than your leg, growing upward and outward in a sort of ring. Think a mushroom shape, with the longest branches nearly grown out to touch the ground. A bit of earth in the middle raised about a metre off the ground, that's where we're standing. I had the idea to propose on that spot sometime last year, and it was all set. I'd bought the ring just a few days earlier and had it in my cargo pants pocket as we went for a walk in the park. As we came into the football field-sized clearing, I was definitly excited but not nervous because we both knew this would happen sooner or later. It worked out so well because as much as it was a formality, it was still a surprise.

A few times I recall being a bit overwhelmed at what I was about to do, but only for a few seconds. I wanted to just whip out the ring, and couldn't wait to get up that tree. We strolled around the park a bit, but she guided us into the clearing, away from the tree -- Dang! She was lost in her thoughts, looking all around the park, and turned to me: 'Do you mind if I tell you something? I don't want to freak out out, but I just had a dream about a wedding in this field.' She said she was both the bride and the photographer, perched high on a ladder taking a group photo (one of those oddities of the great dreamers I suppose). She said wouldn't it be great if we could somehow get married in this sacred place. I agreed, and said we should make it happen.

Just couldn't wait another second after that. All the buildup I'd done in my own mind, and telling others of the tree proposal plans, that was out the window. That was the right moment, and judging from her reaction, I was right to go with my instincts!

We spent the rest of our Denman stay kicking around plans to hold the ceremony in the field. In time, practicality reared its head -- we don't want getting to our wedding to be difficult, and there are some people with mobility issues who simply can't get into the park. So the official stuff will happen in Victoria, but we still plan a small family gathering with some kind of ceremony several days prior -- at this special place that's become a central symbol of She and I.