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| Wedding Arbor, Cataldo, Idaho |
The SilverValley of Northern Idaho is one of the most beautiful places I’ve seen in
America. Where the Coeur d’Alene river runs through the mountains of the same
name, the valley links a chain of small lakes, until the river flows into the
large, meandering Lake Coeur d’Alene. By the mouth of that river is the Old
West steamer port town of Harrison, where I stayed in a creaky bed and
breakfast, swam in the lake, and bathed in a claw foot tub. On the other end of
the valley are the nineteenth century mining towns of Wallace and Cataldo, the
latter being the home of the first Jesuit mission in the state. And somewhere
in between was the ranch where my clients had their wedding.
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| The Hall-Green Wedding |
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relatively new gravel road was carved up the hill to a wedge of dirt and rock
excavated from the mountain, big enough for the guests to park, and with a half
barn sort of structure built to accommodate a reception, complete with
ee-lec-tricity. It goes without saying that the hillside was an excellent place
for the groomsmen to take some target practice before the festivities. And
there was even a patch of grass for a ceremony. The whole place was equipped
with a view built specially by God Himself, and a piece of it was conveniently
framed by a white arbor with a cross on top, and a bough of fresh flowers.
It’s a place to which I should return with my easel and
paints. But on this occasion, I was contracted to draw caricatures, rather than
a live oil painting.
I always tell the women that my caricatures aren’t demeaning,
that I’ll make them all look like movie stars. The men, however, have no such
promise—especially if they’re the goofy type who invite a little satire.
Certain precocious children sometimes tend to get drawn
repeatedly, on the knees of all their favorite relatives. That’s not a problem
in a group of just a hundred and fifty. I drove a long way, and I wasn’t about to
leave until everyone who wanted a drawing got one. Or six.
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| The couple |
