That's a Mott Trait!

We all settled easily into some drinking and swapping of stories and sifting through the last generation's peccadilloes and reflections on the lives and choices of all of us - the present generation.  Specifically as related to the Mott Family. We were all way too old for pinching of cheeks and tousling of hair atop the young'uns' head, while exclaiming, "My how you've grown!".  No, this family reunion avoided those theatrics typically witnessed at a myriad of multi-generation family reunions assembled across the land on Memorial Day.  No, instead this Memorial Day weekend the constant refrain was, "That's a Mott trait!".  Answered by, "Oh yeah, that's definitely a Mott trait."

Cousin John Mott (Sue's cousin on her mother's side, son of Uncle Larry & Aunt Katie Mott) was getting married to Ashley at the Unitarian Universalist Church on Saturday in Nashville, Tennessee. Sue had occasion to have dinner with long-lost cousin John last year while in Nashville for a conference.  The family relations were renewed and through Facebook, they were now not only cousins, but "friends", enjoying one another's postings.  Finding the renewal of kindred ties very much to her liking, Sue was pleased to get an invitation to the wedding of John and Ashley and quickly connected via Facebook to cousin Carol (daughter of Uncle Ben & Aunt Donna Mott) in Denver.  With a big push and flurry of imploring texts, tweet and posts,  Sue send the message to Carol, "We should do this Wedding together!" - that's a Mott trait.

I threw in with the Mott rumpus as well.  I got up early and drove our 2009 Camry to Nashville (10 hrs) while Sue booked a flight and landed at 4 PM.  She got in ahead of me by 50 minutes, I scooped her up and we checked in to the motel.  We had a Turkish dinner and then went to fetch Cousin Carol at the airport at 8 PM and we all came back to the motel.  I excused myself and soon settled on top of my pillows after a long drive, while the girl cousins set up shop on the lobby sofa and talked into the wee hours.  Cousin Carol was our good and constant traveling companion as we all traipsed across Middle Tennessee in our car.

The next moring was a scheduled breakfast at IHOP with Ashley and John, bride and groom.  Everybody gets acquainted and gets hopped up on caffeine. We three will play tourist in Nashville and then we will all meet again that night at the prenuptial dinner 50 miles east of Nashville in Watertown.

In Watertown, Bruce (eldest of the five Mott boys) and wife Cathy, are hosting a dinner and music at his Walker Creek Toffee factory.

Sue & Carol
Wedding Rehearsal at
Bruce's Walker Creek Toffee HQ

Bruce and Cathy make high quality, superior tasting, pure and natural toffee varieties in a 19th Century building with a recently installed industrial kitchen. As the three of us showed up to the party, I was gratified to be treated immediately as family; as Cousin Chris found me at the beer and wine table and said to me, "Looking for a drink? Come with me." We walked back deep into Bruce's candy kitchen and he pulled out the local moonshine and and poured a generous glass and said, "This is the real Tennessee stuff.  Drink up!"  That's a Mott trait!


The music was provided by up and coming country music singer, the lovely Lillie Syracuse, early in the evening, followed by a blue grass band from Eastern Tennessee State University featuring Ashley's daughter.  

Sue and Aunt Katie
Meet again after decades
Prenuptial Dinner

As the tunes wound down, the toffee was long gone and a fabulous dinner of tenderloin and shrimp was cleared, Bruce and his wife Cathy insisted we not drive all the way back to Nashville, but come on out to the farm and crash there.  Cousin Carol asked Cathy how to get to the farm: Cathy tried to remember, and did her best to give directions, but little of what that had been imbibed that night in Watertown was actually water.  I told my two fair ladies who were traveling with me, that we will not be staying at the farm, we will be back at the motel - trust me this is the right decision.

Carol and John
Gather in the Kitchen

Lillie Syracuse & Buzzy Orange
Offer prenuptial melodious songs
during dinner

As a fair compromise, we got some good sleep at the motel and then headed east again to try and find Bruce and Cathy's farm, in the daylight.  Google map was of as much help as the infamous 'drunken directions' provided the night before.  As the Mott farm on Walker Creek Road was really on a road by another name - even though it was the same road [this actually makes sense if you're in rural Tennessee].  Though cell phones navigation features were of little help, actually the phone applications were of some use in calling Bruce and saying we were lost outside of DeKalb County.  He eventually gave us some sober directions and Cathy flagged us down as we drove past the farm.  We found out that the entire blue grass band had taken up the invitation to crash at the farm last night, so had we also come to hang out at Walker Creek farm, it would have been 8 of us in two beds [this actually makes sense if you're in rural Tennessee].  We were well received, Bruce cooked breakfast and poured whatever anybody requested while Carol and Sue shared family photos and talked further of family connections.  There was plenty of agreement, "Oh yeah, that's definitely a Mott trait."

A check of the sun's angle and we all knew we had to get back to Nashville for the wedding.  We had offered our services to help set up, and they were kindly accepted.  Please be here by 2:00 said the bride.  And so we were.

Bruce on back deck of
Walker Creek Farm
-where friends & family are always welcome,
the kitchen is always warm
and the bar is always open
The Good Life

Cathy, Carol and Bruce
Swapping family stories and herding dogs
Is that a Mott trait?