And Once More for Good Measure

Friday, December 30, 2011
In which the final hurrah of the season commences…

OLeif was off work once again, and so a holiday had been planned with those of the family willing to participate in novelties and hooliganry.

There were four principal points of the day.
The first one began at 8:30 when everyone met together at the house, including Rose (also off work) and Curly, to drive out to Florissant.
It was time to visit Nagle’s, that grand old variety store, from the time of their childhood. They were joined by Grandma Combs and Uncle Mo, direct from the Waffle House. Just like in the old days, it was a little overwhelming. Floor to ceiling knick knacks. Australian soaps, sanded marbles in animal color patterns: pandas, caterpillars (yellow), Bengal tiger (orange), incense labeled: ‘Dragon’s Blood’ and ‘Opium’, pickling spices, rattlesnake eggs, licorice pipes, and seven tons of other hard-to-find googly-baubles. They departed with a collective stash of yellow African-print utility scissors, $1.99 ear buds, four wads of silly putty, balsa wood airplane, various collections of candy, cinnamon candles, and Puck’s new prize of the day: a collapsable heavy-duty red spy glass.
After the variety shop, the whole gang and Uncle Mo dropped in to see Grandma’s new toasty electric fireplace, on which stood her little gold menorah with brightly colored candles and Uncle Mo and Grandma briefly discussed music with Curly.

Secondly, OLeif had suggested The Original Pancake House in Chesterfield for lunch. So the Joy Bus thundered across 270 and down 40 in the latent sunshine to the bulging brick building wedged in the longest shopping plaza in the country.
They even cleaned up a party table for them in a separate room, which was soon loaded down with stacks of pancakes, thick-cut bacon and sausage, eggs, Dutch pancakes, gluten free pancakes, French toast, lops of butter and kegs of maple syrup. It was pretty much a hit.

Thirdly, it was time to take Puck to see The Muppets. Mom, OLeif, Collette, and Linnea accompanied for the one o’clock showing, where Bing also joined them for two hours of campy mirth. Throughout the film, Puck examined the muppets with his spy glass.
As they departed, Bing to play in a wedding that evening, the sky was ruffled in that tell-tale December way, pale gold in the west.

Interlude.
Mom and Dad napped.
Homemade applesauce, hot on the stove, for Puck.
OLeif experimented giving Rose seizures with his new flashlight while the girls discussed church’s hanging sculpture, the swirl of despair, hung every year from the sanctuary rafters after the Christmas season.
“Maybe they’ll skip it this year,” Rose reasoned. “It’s been getting kind of beat up these days…”
And Dad checked out Puck’s spy glass…
“Let’s see what the neighbors are up to…”
Carrie also had three plush ‘sheeps’ coming in the mail and had prepared soups, salad, and garlic bread for dinner. This included completely from stock, soy-free broccoli cheddar soup, the first time Collette had ever intentionally consumed the stocky green vegetable, and liked it.

And fourthly,
It was Friday night movie night at Rose’s.
OLeif and Collette arrived first with snacks. The three boys joined them later. Ben-Hur had Mr. Rogers shoes too,which he had purchased to be in a wedding. Also, apparently Madeline bit people on the chin. When she liked them. Magnus had been her first victim. As soon as the boys entered the apartment…
“Kitty!” Joe said.
“Catty!” Magnus said.
After Magnus had cuddled her for awhile – she very much resembled a baby – Magnus noted the peculiar tone of her breath…
“Wow. She really does have bad breath.”
‘Catty’ was put back on the floor.
Ben-Hur, after perusing Rose’s new stomping grounds, took a seat on one of the swivel chairs. Magnus thought this would be a good opportunity to take a seat on his lap.
“Oh, I’ve missed these old times,” Ben-Hur laughed.
So, with Magnus selecting The Empire Strikes Back… Ben-Hur had never seen this masterpiece. Magnus, in his Empire Strikes Back t-shirt, was almost a little baffled…
“So. Yeah. That’s Luke Skywalker. And his dad is Darth Vader… I can’t believe I even have to explain this…”
Chewbacca made his appearance on screen.
“Is Chewbacca a girl?” Joe asked.
Magnus just laughed.
“He has a mustache,” said Rose.
“His whole head’s a mustache,” OLeif added.
Chewbacca in the snow also apparently reminded Joe of OLeif, in winter. And his droning voice…
“That’s me when I stub my toe,” OLeif explained.
Collette couldn’t quite deny the fact that he was somewhat beginning to resemble a wookie lately…
At some point about a third of the way through the film, Magnus looked over at Ben-Hur…
“Wait. Are you sleeping?”

“You know sometimes, to get perspective, I like to think about a spaceman on a star incredibly far away. And our problems don’t matter to him because we’re just a distant point of light. But he feels sorry for me, because he has an incredibly powerful microscope, and he can see my face.”
– Michael Scott