Celebrating a 'Big Day'...

Today, hubby and I hit the 30-year mark in our marriage. A friend who had stood witness that day so long ago called to congratulate, telling me this one was "a big one." And while he's probably right, the day pretty much went the way any Monday around here goes:

• Hubby took a lawnmower to the shop for repair.
• I made coffee.
• Hubby took another piece of equipment to another shop for repair.
• We took stock of progress in the vineyard.
• He planted a few seeds.
• I pulled a few weeds.
• He took phonecalls.
• I took phonecalls.
• He read the mail.
• I answered email.
• He bought groceries early in the day.
• I picked up a few more things late in the day.
• He started the washer.
• I started the dryer.
• He watched the evening news.
• I updated the blog.

To be sure, there isn't enough substance in this list to build a headline. Neither is there the kind of mushy sentiment one finds so readily in those $4 cards at Hallmark. Yet, the best man is right. Thirty years is a big deal.

One reason, to be sure, can be chalked up to blessed good health. Till death do us part, for us, is future tense.

Another reason we can today marvel at the big round number is because we've reached the stage when familiarity -- with each other's routines, temperaments, likes and dislikes, and habits both good and bad -- makes navigating our days as easy as driving Highway 169 between Mankato and Bloomington. Some routes are just habit forming. Or easily learned. Or offer enough scenery to keep you from wandering off the road in a daze. (We've memorized the speed traps and adjust our gas pedal accordingly.)

Or maybe this day is remarkable, despite the mundane chores to which we applied our energies, because we have traveled a road through life (a road that stretches way, way, way back to a time and place I can hardly recall) always in sight of shared goals. And even though he walks a lot faster than I, we usually arrived at those goals together.