A Tradition of Food
Soulard was cold as usual. Trays of fresh pineapples, pomegranates, Brazilian nuts, Italian bakery loaves, potatoes, scarves, fresh flowers … Puck paid for a pretzel stick with a paper dollar: ninety-two cents. And slung a sack of his very own boxes of blueberries on his back, from Grandma Combs. Francis’ eyes bulged in anticipation over the fat wedge of double chocolate cake Grandma bought him at the bakery window. Grandma knows the lady there by name. Only Dad, Joe, Jaya, and Rose couldn’t make it this year. The pet store was going out of business after decades of fish, birds, bunnies, and kittens; the owner had decided to retire. Bær added two heads of Romaine and Roma tomatoes to his repertoire. Contributions for Red Strike’s bachelor party cabin slumber party in Potosi that night.
“Salad?” Francis asked.
“And beans and rice.”
“At a bachelor party?”
Bær explained: “They’re all over thirty.”
Crown Candy Kitchen. Hugs from Grandma to our waitress before we found our booths. Ten minutes later: reubens, corned beef, heart stoppers, tamales, ham and cheese, chocolate malts, served with one hundred years of tradition. Then the boys ogled the candy shelves, like jewelry displays: turtles, chocolate angels, fat peanut butter cups, Swedish fish, and Puck’s selection of the day: “Lego candy.”
Naps. Bær, Carrie, Francis, and Linnea. The only reason Mom didn’t join them was because she had several phone calls to make regarding Joe’s and Jaya’s location of preference for the wedding reception. I guess the Boy Scouts aren’t always prepared.
It was raining harder. They kept talking about ice and snow in the evening. Puck and I decided to just spend the night anyway. So Francis flipped on a round of Donald Duck and took another half-nap while Puck chowed down on an entire box of his fresh blueberries. And then Mom napped.
Rose blew in after four-thirty on her way to the company Christmas party. So Joe and Puck chilled out in the basement on “Relaxing World” (Puck’s creation of blankets and pillows on the couch) with a few episodes of Arthur, while Puck chomped down a whole yellow bell pepper, to avoid the make-up-jewelry-perfume activity upstairs. Rose was ready, five minutes after she was meant to meet her date at the community college parking lot.
And because it was one of those kinds of days, “Muppets Christmas Carol” for dinner.