May 17: Ravens

Today is our wedding anniversary, and as is our tradition, my husband and I met after work at the outdoor chapel where we got married. Nine years ago, it was also a sunny day, a bit chillier--I wore long underwear under my dress--with the leaves just unfurling and the earliest flowers blooming. My husband brought me roses, and in the afternoon light his eyes shone with that unreal color blue that first drew me to him all those years ago.
 
The theme of our wedding was ravens--specifically, Odin's two birds named Thought and Memory. Our wedding rings had engraved ravens on them. It's a long story, but now we have matching black ceramic wedding rings, still adhering to the raven theme.
 
Which is why it seemed especially symbolic when, back home, I heard the croak of a raven flying overhead, headed for some corvid fracas on Mount Battie. Later, my husband and I watched together as the pair soared back over the house.
 
They're not here for us,
but we thrill to see ravens--
Thought and Memory.