If It Please the Court

 So we were in Edmonton to see my brother-in-law get sworn in to the King's Bench (the superior trial court of the Canadian province of Alberta, nooo I did not just Google that). We knew it was kind of a big deal, but wow, it was really a big deal. The swearing-in ceremony was in an actual courtroom, and while we were waiting for the whole thing to begin it did feel a bit like we should be preparing an alilbi. 

My brother-in-law is an extremely intelligent, witty, hilarious, well-spoken man who apparently also has a keen legal mind. He worked for a law firm and then was a constitutional law professor at the University of Alberta for years, and was often on the news as a public commentator on constitutional issues. This ceremony was the kind of thing most of us don't get until we're dead, which is kind of cool. There were speakers from the university and the province's law society as well as the freaking lieutenant governor of Alberta, and then Eric's own speech. This could have all gotten tedious, except everyone was very articulate and, as is appropriate for friends of Eric, very funny also.

Eric's speech probably should have been recorded. The two principal things I remember were "I always thought that if the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta, my childhood friend Neil, and my dear Aunt Kate were in a room together I would have been having some kind of weird dream", and "when I looked in the mirror and saw my hairline I realized it was telling me to dress for the job I want". 

It was a great excuse for a partial family reunion that didn't center around a funeral. Matt and I stayed at a hotel right in downtown Edmonton so we could walk to the courthouse, and the first day we went out for brunch and accidentally ended up at a place that was probably too hip for us (there was a family of mother, father, two little boys and a baby girl that should have been featured in some picturesque Families in Fall magazine spread) but the food was really good - I literally said the words "there is a little too much bacon on my breakfast sandwich". Then we walked by the art gallery and decided to go in since we had time before the ceremony. 

There was an exhibition called The Light Fantastic with a bunch of interactive installations that were SO cool. I was talking excitedly about it later in the day and then realized Matt's uncle the artist was there and felt slightly sheepish, and he looked at my face and said "art is supposed to be fun", which I appreciated.

 There was also an exhibit on art about sports, with interesting juxtapositions between older art and more modern pieces (including a giant athletic cup).

We finished just as my right leg started going numb, which is always the mark of a perfectly timed outing.

On the walk back to the hotel we saw a kid dressed as a lobster, whose waddle was very enjoyable.  

We stayed at a hotel with Matt's stepdad and had a few meals with him, which was lovely. We had one dinner at a The Sherlock Holmes Pub which we had walked by after brunch. There was live music, which worried me, but it was just two guys and it was the perfect volume where you could hear them but still converse, and they were really good. I sent a short video to our group WhatsApp that it felt weird to be in Edmonton (western Canada) at an English pub listening to Farewell to Nova Scotia (Eastern Canada). And then - THEN - they played The Log-Driver's Waltz! 

There was a dinner for a larger family group on the Saturday, and we all went over to Eric and Sarah's house on Saturday morning. I kept thinking, at the reception after the ceremony which was at a theatre, and at Eric and Sarah's house which I hadn't seen before, that I should take some pictures, which is my usual role. But there were a lot of people I didn't know, and it felt like it would have interrupted the flow, and I ended up not. Except then I had last-minute regret and took Everyone-Already-in-Their-Coat pictures after dinner. 

Then the next day we all went to the airport to fly home but it didn't take, and that brings the first week of NaBloPoMo almost full circle.