A Gathering of Sons

“Dangerous heat today, boys. So I want you inside most of the day. We might take a walk before it hits though.”

Puck looked uncertainly at me. “Mom, I don’t want to take a risk.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll check the temperature and heat index before we go.”

“How will you know? You can’t even smell!”

Apparently in the Book of Puck, “smell” and “temperature” are integrally connected.

Whatever Puck does, Yali does. I have been warning Puck about this for years.

“You both are goofs,” I tell them multiple times a day.

“I’m the king of goofs, Mom,” Puck assures me, just in case there’s any question about that fact.

“Oh, I know you are. And Yali’s the prince.”

That same prince announced his awakening from his nap that afternoon by dumping over his diaper genie and sort of cooing a congratulations to himself for his efforts.

By this time, the heat index had slipped up to 110. It felt good. Granted, I only walked outside long enough to get the mail. But compared to a chill 70 degrees from the A/C inside, I could have stayed out there longer. If it wasn’t for those darn mosquito conventions.

We were expecting company that evening. Chet Danger, his wife, and seven-month son were driving out from South City to meet Yali.

Now that I had just finished cleaning the house, the boys naturally decided it was a good time to tear apart an old pillow and scatter fluff around their room. Puck stuffed all of it inside a pillow case.

“It’s mine,” Puck concluded. “Not Yali’s.”

“Are you not sharing the fluff with your brother?”

“It’s just that he doesn’t know how to encounter fluff, Mom.”

Considering that at that same moment Yali was spinning around in a circle with a large piece of fluff hanging out of his mouth, I guess he was right.

An evening of Gouda cheese, crackers, Colombian coffee (for those who would), and Puck dolling out somewhat unusual over-the-top obnoxious company behavior. Wide white-ice-blue eyes of Chet Danger’s big baby boy taking in the combined circus of our boys while the parents discussed work, Catholicism, and a variety of other topics before the eight o’clock hour.

I guess you could call that Yali’s first playdate.