Honeymoon Heat
Posted on February 14, 2015 under Storytelling with no comments yet
It can get pretty steamy in the desert
( Peter MacDonald photo )
We should all remember our honeymoons. If we don’t, we’re in a heap of trouble with our partners. A vacation, usually involving travel to some exotic location, is the norm these days. And many people combine their wedding and honeymoon and do it all at once at a resort. For others it might be just a few days off, and others forego this tradition altogether and return to work almost immediately.
Many a romance and subsequent wedding were incubated while attending university. Several of my classmates from St. F.X. met their partners during their undergrad years. More than a few got married shortly after receiving their diplomas. Thousands of weddings have been celebrated at the university chapel, including my own. Our honeymoon consisted of two nights at the in-law’s cottage then back to the daily grind. The real honeymoon occurred ten years later, when we took our first real vacation together after farming out the four kids to family and friends.
I ran into an old buddy the other day and he related the following romantic tale to me. Two young graduates, proudly sporting their X rings, were married in 1964. For their honeymoon a trip south of the border was arranged; a gift from relatives who lived in Tucson, Arizona. With much anticipation, they left Cape Breton with another couple who had been joined in matrimony the previous year. None of these young people had done any serious travelling, unless you count jaunts from Glace Bay to New Waterford and back.
The quartet was handed the keys to the groom’s father’s brand new car (a Dodge Polaris) and a road map. Young people today are so much more sophisticated than their counterparts from 50 years ago, with easy access to information. You can map out a trip, make all the travel arrangements and rent a vehicle with a few clicks of an electronic device. You can program a GPS to get you safely to your destination. You can also check the weather.
Now, Arizona can be chilly at certain times of the year but in the dog days of the summer, it`s a totally different kettle of fish. It’s not always 115° F but it tends to hover around the 100° F most of the time. The further south they went the warmer it got, but surely there is nothing better than having the windows down with the wind blowing your hair around. As it turned out, there was something better.
They stopped at a gas station in Texas. There wasn’t a breath of air and a temperature gauge on the side of the service station was registering 112 F°. But when you’re young and in love, you hardly notice such trivial things. As they eased back on to the interstate, they noticed that most cars bearing Texas licence plates were traveling with their windows up. Well, when in Texas, do as the Texans do. They decided to roll up their windows for the duration of the trip across the desert into Arizona. None of the vehicle’s occupants complained, despite moments of delirium and the constant need for water breaks.
They spent a few pleasant days with the new bride’s extended family. One evening they were all invited out to dinner in the neighborhood, by a family that was quite well to do. They had recently purchased a new car, with all the bells and whistles. Their host offered to take the four Cape Bretoners for a little spin. They had barely left the yard with all windows up, when they felt the loveliest cool breeze wafting through the interior of the vehicle. To say that they were mystified would be an understatement. Moments later, they heard about air conditioning for the first time in their lives.
The visitors from Cape Breton looked at each other sheepishly.
On the return trip to Canada, they kept the windows rolled down until they hit the Canso Causeway. It was the tail end of a Nor’ Easter and the waves were high. A few deep breaths and they were baptized with sea spray … and knew they were home.
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