"A Far Green Country Under a Swift Sunrise"

Friday, December 24, 2004

It was a golden Christmas Eve morning and the little snow birds danced on the bean pod tree in the cold. It was the type of cold that was so very bitter, it made one angry without knowing it, if one had to function in it.

The day before, the temperature had lingered at six degrees. And as Ivy was talking about Joy taking a ride on her shoulder the other day, “fourteen pounds of kitty”, Judah walked in wearing his little red knit cap with socks and sandals, of course, bearing a diet Coke for the party.

“Greetings,” he bowed low to Ivy and herself.

“Let me tell you – “ Joe said, coming out from his office, “the Bach society can really boogey it down with ‘Go Tell it on the Mountain.’”

Apparently the concert at Powell had gone well that night as well, and Judah seemed pleased with it all.

That morning was for Christmas music – old cassette tapes Ivy had brought with her. They listened to “Messiah” a number of times and feasted on a hearty farewell lunch of pizzas, salad, and a lovely set of Christmas sweets.

Before the pizza arrived, Judah began doing his happy dance, saying, “All these good Christmas treats and Christmas music”. He began clapping, “Makes me want to put on an elf hat and do a little dance.”

Later, as Collette looked through the paper shelves for printing, she noticed her favorite shade was nearly gone – a small stack of thirty sheets or so of thin dark rose paper. And while she was looking, Ivy brought her and Judah a candy cane. They were running out of time to complete everything, and according to Ivy’s teacher in college, peppermint cleared the mind and helped one think. So the teacher had passed out candy canes during their algebra final.

If Collette had not been feeling rather well and easy that Christmas morning, she might have thought it to be a Grey Haven morning. As Tolkien wrote long ago:

“And the ship went out into the High Sea and passed on into the West, until at last on a night of rain… a sweet fragrance on the air and… the sound of singing that came over the water. And then it seemed to him that as in his dream… the grey rain-curtain turned all to silver glass and was rolled back, and he beheld white shores and beyond them a far green country under a swift sunrise.”

Collette could think of no better way to see Heaven. It was the best piece she knew.

There had been little time to think lately about everything, about the importance of it all. However, there were small times here and there.

And the evening before had gone well at Grandpa’s house. Carrie-Bri had sat so poised during dinner in her marigold sweater and her hair curled and spun up so perfectly. He diamond bling studs flashed in the candlelight as she answered every question wittingly and knowledgeably, calm, cool, and collected. Her fork hung suspended over her brisket as she answered questions of the Secret Service, piloting, Spanish and Gulf Arabic, airport security, and study abroad. Amanda also suggested work with the planes themselves as apparently Bristol, their cousin, who had recently obtained his pilot’s license, had met Nellie and Brad Pitt while operating on the airfield.

And there was not as much to discuss that year concerning Amanda and her work. Top confidential information could not even be leaked to the family. Although she admitted that her German and Russian were becoming rusty, apparently, as she was not using them momentarily. In addition, her liberal ideas seemed to be watering down a bit, as she and Dad went back and forth as usual, and Great Uncle Roger joined in. It was always a humorous situation to see Dad tease his little step-sister.

Of course Carrie was often inspired during these visits to work on her own ambitions even more. There was the option of a second degree or working toward her masters. And of course, there were the languages which she would hopefully begin once February came rolling in on the dark wings of winter.

The butter was still softening in the kitchen for the cinnamon toast that morning as she thought of things to list and record and consider. She was coming to a slight bit of a crossroads and she concluded that there must be something to be done to accomplish what she had been wanting to do.

Then she found an interesting piece of news, and sent a note to Carrie-Bri:

“Hey, Carrie, do you want to be an extra on Pirates of the Caribbean 2? They’re calling for 7,000 total. Cool, eh? I think you should try for it. Think about it – a potentially free trip to the Caribbean. And you could work with some dude named Chow Yun-fat. Yeah, I’m sure that’s going to help you on your resume for the Secret Service.”

It was quite an interesting prospect, after all. She could think of several dozen who would die for it, but she figured Linnea would be first in line. A little pirate girl – eye patch, kerchief, boots, and a swagger. Maybe even a little penciled-in mustache. Yes, she could see it now – walking the deck of the ship with a dagger in her belt and a swashbuckling grin on her rosy face, one boot up on a chest of newly snatched coins and semi-precious gems. Maybe a flask of ginger ale in the hold. Yes, Linnea would have made the best buccaneer of the high seas.

Meanwhile, she had an issue to bring up with OLeif over IM:

“OLEIF – YOU LEFT THE ICE CREAM OUT ALL NIGHT!!! AAARGH!”

“I could have swore I put it back… I’m sorry.”

“That’s OK. I just had to clean up a sopping mess of butter pecan slime on the counter.”

“Ewwww did you put it back?”

“No; it’s ruined. It’s all gone.”

“How sad.”

“I guess… If you like pecans.”

And then after Mom had called to talk about having Christmas breakfast and gifts the next morning, Collette talked to Linnea about the pirate film, and as she got off the phone afterward, she heard Linnea in the background:

“Oh, maaaaan…. I’m gonna be in a pirate movie!”

The day grew cold later. And Collette began to feel quite miserable. The pain in her stomach brought her to thinking about some things. It was likely a good thing she was in such pain. Pain always made a person think. And once the fainting spell had passed, and the heat went down, she was able to think through what had happened a bit. Perhaps it wasn’t something to describe on paper, but it helped to have it in her mind.

There would be breakfast at home the next morning – sweet warm and gooey monkey bread with the family, and then presents once the kitchen was washed up quickly.

Outside, the beans shivered happily on the hard frozen branches. The few clusters remaining seemed to enjoy the setting of the sun and the blue of the sky. It was as though they sang together of Christmas and that they were happy for Collette. Only little bean pods, brown and dry and thin, but they were always there, hanging by their little stems, never complaining or giving up the ship when the winds blew so very hard and the rain fell so very fast. Not even the ice or the storm could make them fall to the graveyard of leaves below. It was only when the heaven of spring took them away, would they fall. And then new little pink buds would take their place and learn the same lessons of their short, hard, but beautiful little lives.

Apparently Rose, the “doodlebug”, was quite bored that afternoon. She had typed many faces over the IM to Collette and her only report of the day was that she and Mom had ordered Burt’s Bees miscellania. At Cracker Barrel, Wednesday night, she had bought herself what she had been wanting for three years or so – a small package of various waxes and creams, scents, and balms, all smelling of mint and cherry and raspberry and other good stuffs. Her other news:

“Pumpkin poked me in the eye today with his claw.”

(The kids never seemed to quite remember that Pumpkin was a “she”.)

Later, she informed OLeif that:

“Dad (was) playing the trombone very loudly.”

Dad liked to whip out his old instruments from time to time.

Meanwhile Collette straightened the bedspread, picked up the wooden bowl of nutshells on the coffee table (OLeif had finished them off earlier), and took his wet towel off the closet door where it had been drying all day.

It had grown cold again, and she turned up the heat. (Earlier she had turned it down from where it had originally been nearly eighty; but this had only brought a heavier faintness over her.) It was one of those days…

A full moon was out in the shadows of evening, behind the gumball tree. And a full band of orange and rose lit the whole perimeter of the clear open sky. It was as though the sun had set around the whole sky. The lamppost beyond the southwestern road seemed bent to the side, as if a wind had lured it too far. The glass of her desk window seemed frosted from the breath of the trembling bean pods. And Collette rather wondered if she had all her thoughts collected as she sat waiting for the hour to end.