08 APR 26
“Aw gross GROSS... she smells SO BAD... the dog smells SO BAD!”...
Yes... yes she does...
Puck emerges from his room to check out his siblings' exclamations over the eau de stink emitting from the basement... “Oh yeah...” he muses almost contemplatively... “I saw her eating something in the fire pit yesterday”...
Apparently after an unfortunate encounter with what the dog could have only assumed was a succulent feast left as a personal gift in the ashes of the fire pit the previous evening... she had engorged on meat-fat old enough and gross enough to be considered too rancid for the trash can but instead had been left for the fire... the resulting consequence was a kennel-full of repugnance... the dog had practically exploded overnight and was now a walking stink covered in ash... candles are lit...
Maybe it's small mercies that we're scheduled earlier than usual to volunteer at the old school that morning... Yali has also decided to join us... smacking beeswax into his hair and fastening all his decorative chains before leaving the beast of refuse behind... maybe she wondering why no one is interested in cuddling her in fluffy blankets and cooing over her as usual...
By late morning as workbooks tumble out back home again... that pine candle is working overtime and some of the clueless mutt's tan hide is smelling less beastly...
And by the time Yali is documenting “1 – 1 = 495” on his final work sheet of the day and Patience is in the kitchen mixing blue food dye into a bowl of banana pudding just to watch it change colors... it's time to hit the park...
As we exit the old Civic... Patience looks me up and down cautiously judging my attire... yes... I'm wearing my fringed moccasin boots over athletic leggings with one of Puck's Army tees to compliment my blue tortoiseshell hoops and a whimsical fringe of bangs I've just re-trimmed over the bathroom sink with a pair of preschool craft scissors because no one puts the scissors back in a place that makes sense... ever... but... I can feel Patience's restraint... limiting herself to only one comment...
“Those aren't walking shoes”...
Completing one circuit around the asphalt track then back to the car windows down... Handel's “Alexander's Feast” on the radio... researching Danish folk schools... while Yali and Patience run themselves out of wildness on the playground...
About an hour later Yali and I are sitting on a different parking lot before I scoop Patience off to the studio... up at church eating pre-packaged chocolate chip cookie dough watching “The Wonder Years” on my phone... waiting for Oxbear to arrive so he and Yali can prep casseroles with Oxbear's Bible study for a local men's shelter... there are ironies here...
