Christina Asked: What is the symbolism of Leap Day.

Leap Day. Feb 29th, 2004. Christina and John chose an interesting day to ritualize their commitment, but not a surprising one. Certainly by it's very uniqueness, Leap Day is special. Plus it is obscure enough not to be claimed by anybody. No Leap Day cards and Leap Day parades---well, except the one we just created---which is why we are all here and not at a relative's carving up Leap Day lamb.

So, besides merging into the one quarter day Gregorian cosmic calendar continuum, season's that work, and fewer anniversaries…what deep spiritual and historical precedent does this leap day offer to the leaping couple?

· in 1504 Columbus used a lunar eclipse to terrify indigenous Jamaicans, thereby claiming more territory for Spain
· in 1880 The Gotthard railway tunnel between Switzerland & Italy opened
· in 1936 FDR signed the 2nd neutrality act
· and in 1960 1st Playboy Club, featuring bunnies, opens in Chicago

hmmmm…also, Leap day is historically the day when women propose marriage. This tradition started in 5th century Ireland when St. Bridget complained to St. Patrick, lamenting that women had to wait forever for a man to propose. Patrick acquiesced, granting yearning females one day every four years, reasoning that since the leap year day existed to fix a problem in the calendar, it could also be used to fix an old and unjust custom that only let men propose marriage. Interestingly, any man who declined a Leap Year proposal had to pay a fine---from kiss to a silk dress or a pair of gloves.

But I think John & Christina's choice was mutual, so what are they doing getting married on this quarter day circa 2004? Fewer anniversary presents? I doubt it. Think of it this way---leap day occurs as a way to make our life in the sun more balanced and consistent. Every four years we reckon with our imperfections and set things straight, moving on into a renewed light. So, Christina and John, today is your quarter day to start your lives again, building on the past, forging ahead with the new. And now you get to spend the rest of your lives adding up all those quarter days and turning them into something brilliant. Yes, the sun and the night are with you.

Now is the moment, Unity is John & Christina
conceived easily like dawn painted skies, sun red metal,
a double espresso, a nap later this afternoon
when unity is offered and dives into the ineffable ocean of soul

What is unity anyway, but a shoulder to count on
when others can't feel you in visual harmony
it is perfect complexity, you both entirely
rather than in pieces of one
unity that is but blood in your breath, your vows, your committment

Christina and John, as you embrace this unity
you hold the balance between heaven and earth, woman and man
you become a sky full of constellations
and the space where light
looks into the window of each day.

This unity is now, the moment you, Christina and John, John and Christina
cross over the bridge into the deep blue expanse of Love

We are honored to accompany you there, in Unity.

Thinking about a toast, Blake remembered John & Christina's "falling in love" in Point Arena
...despite their denial of such...

A Country Beginning

To get him to Point Arena, you promised naked pillow fights
and a Saturday night cocktail party outside on the sloping, heal eating lawn
I don't remember whose car navigated the winding, crumbling Pacific to get here
but I do know it was you who brought along glittering costumes, bags of food, good booze
glamorous girls and boys, and an ex-boyfriend familiar enough to seem current

when you arrived with your arms full, I took you into the kitchen
and asked if you were newly in love; you said no, I pretended to believe you
your gait as light as your song as I snaked you, two girl chaperons, your X
and your unacknowledged-husband-to-be down a slender path
through redwood and pine, the ends of sleeping bags
dragging along behind you, early fall duff hanging from dark blue corners

I put the gang of you in the Big Top Boudoir together
Pedro's electricity free canvas B & B
gave you a flashlight and a kerosene lantern for later
offered to light the pot bellied stove when the sun went down
diverted with a few trapeze contortions
in my white sequined ball gown

it was labor day weekend, and we neglected to mention
the event that brought us together, not this year
but in years past, the confluence of same
where creative minds gathered to participate in the survival of our kind

as fog crept around our vodka tumblers and laughter intensified
you and he challenged, bickered, agreed, teased, until finally,
he brought out pillows and held you to your word
your band of women plunging into super hero
stripping down to everything but sox and shoes
(which we needed for leverage) and the bashing began
breasts, balls and feathers flying until the PA cyber alien
peered through the curtain less window with his digital camera
sobered us into realizing our moment could live much longer than now

yet the absurdity went on
as did your flirting, your denial of your flirting
my tacit agreement to ignore your protesting-too-much to my bantering probes

it must have been a month or two
after Monday morning came and you all left me alone in the silence of the woods
long enough for us to fly to Vegas for Lorianne's bride-to-be retreat
long enough for four planes to crash and change our American lives forever
for you and he to perform three wedding ceremonies
and spend countless hours of platonic conversation
a month or two when you called, told me the news about your whispering core
how someone could finally hear it