13 NOV 25
Lots to do... Patience is packing for Arkansas early... amenities spilling out of her magenta suitcase onto the floor as she prioritizes... “Guess we gotta test Dad's hair braiding skills” I note... feis-prepared...
Meanwhile Yali has snipped all the fingertips off my slick pair of black Under Armour climbing gloves which... though never used for climbing were once a nice pair of gloves... he looks guilty... everlastingly scrounge-costuming from anything that appears even microscopically available for dissection...
And Patience plunges back into paints and brushes for the quickly approaching St. Louis Symphony's local art contest...
Down to the tailor in Fenton... help Patience pull the five-pound dress back on as she sparkles in rhinestones... “I can breathe again!”...
Drive home... hills a crunch of middle autumn... dumped spice box...
Home is Yali feverishly deep in a sewing project... “yelling” in conversation over zippers and needles because these kids just can't hear at full capacity... asking me about magnets for superhero capes...
...Puck knocking tools around in the carport in moderate frustration over decisions made by previous vintage vehicle owners... but the new battery is installed and the engine finally starts up with a roaring punch...
Yali eventually puts down the needle to demonstrate centrifugal force to Patience which involves a bag of all the Halloween candy they couldn't have due to extensive mouth-metalwork... swinging it around in circles above his head...
…before I scoot them outdoors to baked golden sunshine to watch and name the late bumblebees collecting the last of the pollen from tiny daises by the front door...
...before several more costume changes for Yali...
...as Patience and I leave for the studio... she squawking re-invented lyrics over radio-Vivaldi... “Oh Christmas tree... oh Christmas tree!... I love the way you... dip yourself in pickle juice... cha cha!”...
And somehow we're all back together again after seven o'clock...
...Puck in the kitchen waiting on his shrimp dinner... chatting new tech with Oxbear...
...who's pulling the oven out from the wall to re-set it (again) as he and Patience finish shaving butter into a Depression-era inspired “water pie”...
...while Yali practices his newly 3D-printed Aztec death whistle which has somehow also scared Patience into tears... “Deep breath Patience... deep breath!”