Thunder and Lightning, Oh Yeah . . .

The big shindig was last night, and a good thing, too, because right now, the thunder and lightning are cracking in near synchronicity. I am grateful that the bad weather held off until today. I don't think we could have moved the entire party, band and all, into the house, and we certainly couldn't have let everyone shelter beneath the metal tent poles.
Last night, the weather was almost perfect after a hot and humid day and some threatening afternoon storm clouds. All the exhausted new lawyers, fresh from the bar exam -- or not so fresh, as the case may be -- underwent one last rite of passage and broke bread with the people they'll soon be working with. At least this last lap of the endurance test includes great food, a fine band, and many mojitos. (I stuck with no-jitos myself, because I'm a lightweight of the first order. Fortunately, lime juice and simple syrup with fresh mint tastes delicious even without the rum. I waited until the caterer served dessert before I dared have a glass of wine.)
The party preparations continued right until the last minute. In fact, the morning of the party I channeled my mother and began "fluffing" the house, polishing silver, lighting the new candles to blacken the wicks, ironing one or two guest towels for the powder room, and arranging the piles of books into somewhat more artful piles. By the time Garden Girl and I had a chance to dance, the party was nearly over.
P.S. The little guinea keets got lots of curious visitors. A couple more have hatched in the last few days, including one that hatched as the first guests arrived.