A Quiet Sunday
Sunday, March 6, 2011
In which they are reminded of sobering things…
Collette woke to have regained a lost pound. She had nine servings of cashews to thank for that…
Church.
The sun was returned.
And still the cold.
It was somber in many ways. The recent tragedy of the Hobcoggin family had left a hollow space in the last couple of days. And they were reminded of it throughout the morning.
Following those several hours, Collette felt guilty for feeling as though she could have cried at lunch. Carrie had prepared another spread of goodness: salmon (she could have that, at least), salad, macaroni and cheese casserole, Welch’s grape-strawberry juice, and lime cheesecake with a chocolate crust for dessert. None of which she was allowed to eat.
Meanwhile, conversation at lunch was the usual lively, occasional, mayhem.
“Guess what we’re doing in our church nursery?” Mom asked. “We’re painting it.”
“What?” asked Carrie. “Is it going to have a St. Louis skyline like ours?”
“Nooo… it’s going to have one wall that will be painted with chalkboard paint, and another with magnetic. We also have plastic balloons that will never pop.”
“Define ‘never’.”
“Our kids clean up their own toys,” Rose added.
“Oh, yeah?” said Joe. “Well out kids destroy chairs.”
After lunch…
The usual nappers napped.
“Do you want girl-time, Rose?” Puck asked. “We can go outside with blankets.”
“You guys need to make him more masculine,” said Joe.
“That’s your job,” Rose replied.
“It’s boy time too,” said Puck.
“Girl time. You become a girl for just a little while,” Carrie teased him.
“No, I will not!” Puck protested.
Girl-time was followed by Puck careening around the yard with the three little sisters next door, and Trooper, for some time, in the cold and the mud.
On the patio lay several capes prepared for Izzy’s and Francis’ pirate costumes, sprinkled with various patches of salt in order to encourage the aging process.
Then Mom joined Joy Tecumseh at a four o’clock St. Louis Bread Company appointment, ‘to chat’.
“See you next week!” Dad called out as she left.
Francis returned from running errands, including picking up white duct tape for Carrie, although he returned with mirror duct tape instead…
To the grocery store for the essentials of the week: cheese, beef, fish, eggs, milk, bananas, and cashews. And a box of Thin Mints Girl Scout cookies for Dad. Never before had Collette been called upon to resist such temptation.
And so the weekend gradually slipped into the week…