Welcome Dinner

Soirée

Farewell Breakfast

Fall

Our Wedding

From my California, my great landof gold and complications, wilderness,enormous cities built on faults,austere, bizarre, and inexhaustiblevineyards, valleys crowded with visions. To your Georgia of red dirt farms,where trees are all one green,a bony piney sandy silence,your Georgia of slow rivers, graves,islands, that quiet place. How could I come with all my California? I see them come with open hands,transparent, sharing everything,giving and cleaving, nothing kept,the emigrants that leave their motherlandfor love and never look behind. But if I would, how could I give youCalifornia? And I have to livethere, working the creeks my veins for gold. Or you, could you leave Georgia,leaving your bones behind,and give me more than silence? So we have made these no-one’s-landsby meeting where we never knowwhen we shall meet or not,like spies or pioneers,telling the news in low voicesdown in the willow couleesin a grey evening, inland. We met at sea, we marriedin a foreign language, what wonderif we cross a continent on footeach time to find each otherat secret borders, bringingof all my streams and darknesses of goldand your deep graves and islands. A feathera flake of micaa willow leafthat is our country,ours alone. ~Ursala K. Le Guin

Our Poem

Married each other twice, first on the winter solstice and then on the summer solstice (both coincidentally), Rana and Daniel are celebrating their marriage on the Lunar New Year (also coincidentally). Their story, bond and family of 9 are beautiful and non-traditional, as they are. Daniel is 200 lbs of halal lean meat, 4 gallons of genius, two handfuls of good hair and a teaspoon of normal. For a man with his strong build, he has mush for insides. He tears up watching a TV commercial and weeps officiating the marriage of two people he loves. Daniel is also very consistent; whether he's consistently there for you or consistently late to work meetings.He is a go-getter and he go-got her. Equipped with the heart of a child and the precision of a sniper, he executed his masterplan. He was very gently aggressive in winning her attention and later on, her heart. If there is one word to describe him, it is persistent. Because the first time he laid eyes on her, he just knew. Rana is equal parts ma’amoul and petit four. Like her hometown Jeddah, a desert city surrounded by water, she is a woman of contrast; brave as a lion, meek as a lamb, at once brilliant and clueless, with no idea where she’s going but a very detailed plan to get there. She is sensitive and vulnerable, yet defiant in the face of injustice, her ethics unweathered by life’s provocations.And like Jeddah, she is a crossroads linking disparate worlds, a gateway for pilgrims, a window to the west. She opened her heart, and her hearth, to this pilgrim, completely and without hesitation, risking everything but demanding nothing.&nbsp; If there is one word to describe her, it is her name. Because Rana means "eye-catching, elegant and graceful". Together, they parent 7 fur/feather babies that have special needs and/or an interesting backstory (see below).

Tales of the Tails

Frasier (dog) was abandoned in the woods in Alabama. He has the looks of a distinguished gentleman, and a sesame seed for a brain. He loves to wrestle with Daniel almost as much as Daniel loves to wrestle with him. They both gaze longingly into each other's eyes and go on relaxing strolls by the reservoir. The bond between Frasier and Daniel is like no other. Some would go as far as calling them son and father (see Evidence Sheet section). Muriel (cat) is 17 years old. Surrendered to a shelter at 13, she languished for months and developed kitty-depression. Then Daniel arrived and asked for the oldest cat they had, giving her a new lease on life. She's a grumpy old lady and while getting siblings at this age was not her idea of retirement, she's focusing her efforts on her favorite activities: sitting still and being quiet. Fennel (cat) had severe anxiety and was on the "least likely to get adopted" list at the shelter. Now he is happy, fat and sassy. His morning routine is MEOWING nonstop from 5-7 am to wake his parents because he wants pets. Forest (cat) had a gum condition and got all his teeth extracted. Toothless yet somehow overweight, he is clumsy, sweet and extremely unintelligent (he was named after Forest Gump). Forest was adopted as an emotional support animal for Fennel, which is a role he took seriously from day 1. A few short weeks after Forest joined the family, Fennel's anxiety started to gradually subside. Catfooda (bird) landed upon her parents on a beautiful spring day. She made her way into their lives through the bathroom vent and never left. She is a beautiful graceful parakeet full of song and joy. She escaped through an open window on a gloomy autumn evening, leaving her parents devastated and holding on to a blue feather or two she left behind. Only to realize an hour later that she was very quietly sitting still on top of the bird cage watching them looking for her and losing their minds, whilst probably bird-giggling internally. Celery and Banana (birds) were adopted to keep Catfooda company. Celery (aka Boogers) is food-driven and unable to maintain even a hover. He gets almost eaten by Frasier or one of the cats once a week. Banana is slender and intelligent with a touch of bully! He is an excellent dancer with way too much to say.

About Us

Theory: Frasier is Daniel's biological son

evidence:

Item #1: Same round brown eyes

Item #2: Same salt and pepper straight hair

Item #3: Same furry feet

Item #4: Both look great with beards

Item #5: Both need to keep their hair long

Item #6: Both love letting Rana dress them up

Item #7: Both think food is life

Item #8: Both love the snow

Item #9: Both are the best of their respective species

Evidence Sheet

1/20/2023, 6:30 - 8:30 pmThe Quechee Inn at Marshland Farm1119 Quechee Main Street, Quechee, VT 05059 For guests arriving past 8:30, grab and go dinner options will be available.

1/21/2023 - 5:30 - 11:00 pmSimon Pearce Restaurant and Glass Workshop1760 Quechee Main St, Quechee, VT 05059 Cocktail hour starts at 5:30 pm, and dinner will begin at 6:30 pm. Simon Pearce is conveniently located 0.6 miles away from the Quechee Inn. *proof of vaccination required.

1/22/2023 - 8:00 - 10:00 amThe Quechee Inn at Marshland Farm1119 Quechee Main Street, Quechee, VT 05059

Events 

Nearest airports to Quechee, VT

Lebanon, NH (LEB) - 5.7 milesDomestic (Cape Air) Rutland, VT (RUT) - 44 milesDomestic (Cape Air) Burlington, VT (BTV)- 68 milesInternational (Qatar Airways, Emirates, Air France)Domestic (American, Delta, JetBlue, United) Albany, NY (ALB) - 94.3 milesInternational (Qatar Airways)Domestic (Allegiant, American,&nbsp;Delta, Frontier, JetBlue,&nbsp;SouthWest, United) Boston, MA (BOS) - 135 milesInternational (Air France, British Airways, Emirates, Japan Airlines, Korean Air, Lufthansa, Qatar Airways, Swiss, Turkish Airlines, Virgin Atlantic)Domestic (Allegiant, American, Boutique, Cape Air, Delta, Frontier, JetBlue, SouthWest, Spirit, Sun Country, United) Hartford, CT (BDL) - 135 milesInternational (Air Canada)Domestic (American, Delta, Frontier, JetBlue, SouthWest, Spirit, Sun Country, United) *<a href="https://dartmouthcoach.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Dartmouth Coach </a>has a bus service leaving from Boston to Lebanon, NH every 1-2 hours. Lebanon is 15 minutes away from the Inn.

Accommodations

The Quechee Inn, a historic landmark listed on the National Registry of Historic Places, was built in 1793 as the home of Colonel Joseph Marsh. The rustic vintage inn is entirely reserved for the weekend, and is where the welcome dinner and farewell breakfast will take place. A country breakfast is available in the morning and fresh baked cookies and refreshments in the afternoon for all guests. Please call the Inn to book your room by December 20th, 2022.

The Quechee Inn at Marshland Farm

Travel & Accommodations

A preposterously quaint town with shops, restaurants, bars, book stores and museums.

Rana & Daniel

Rana & Daniel

Things to Do

Dining and Entertainment:

Sugarbush Farm

Cocktail bar:

Au Comptoir

Whiskey Tasting:

WhistlePig Whiskey Parlour

Sleigh Rides:

Kedron Valley Stable

Skiing & Snowboarding:

Ski Quechee

Ragged Mountain Resort

Saskadena Six

Pico Mountain Ski Resort

Gondola Rides, tubing and snowmobile tours:

Killington Resort