![\"newburgh2009-006\"](\"http:\/\/dickonedwards.co.uk\/diary\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/newburgh2009-006.jpg\" "\\"newburgh2009-006\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\nThe weather is absolutely sweltering, even plantation-like. Crickets outside my window sound like serenading eletric razors; the sheer volume of the creatures calls for earplugs at night. It’s not a constant, even sound, either: some crickets get nearer and louder from time to time, with all varieties of whirring and buzzing imaginable.<\/p>\n
Tepid rain showers punctuate the days. Lawrence’s house is full of electric fans on full-pelt. Drinking water constantly is par for the course. When I get out of Lawrence’s car to walk to a local diner for breakfast – the car being a\u00c2\u00a0 hybrid-fuel Prius with perfect air-conditioning, my glasses steam up.<\/p>\n
Inside the diner (more perfect fridge-like air conditioning), I have pancakes with syrup, and am attended by a waitress who walks among the tables with a top-up jug asking, ‘Coffee, hon?’ Just like in the movies. The diner has an amazing mural:<\/p>\n More guests arrive at the house for Friday evening, when there’s something of an alternative batchelor party (for both grooms). Various turns include burlesque – an Aussie lady morris dancer who disrobes levels of vintage costume made by her seamstress girlfriend\u00c2\u00a0 – and a beautiful be-wigged Brooklyn drag queen. One turn is a hilarious lecture on How To Dance Goth.<\/p>\n On Saturday morning, the marriage ceremony takes place in the nearby park. The grooms declare their vows:<\/p>\n Then they join their hands and present them for binding by the guests. Each guest adds a ribbon to the union:<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n