Another Precursor
Sunday, June 12, 2011
In which there is pig slop and stuffed mushrooms and Swiss chocolate…
During Children’s Church, the Prodigal Son was being presented to the little class. Daisy-Jean had mailed ziplock bags to all the kids earlier in the week so that they could bring leftover food to contribute to a visual pig slop. This idea seemed to be a big hit.
Later, as Puck was leaving Sunday School, they saw Daisy-Jean crafting papier-mâché Mt. Sinai’s with her class. Eternally creative.
Back to the house…
Rose was at her church picnic.
And the others gathered around the candlesticks for Carrie’s stuffed mushrooms, roasted asparagus, herb chicken, mojitos (sans alcohol), homemade gingersnaps, and homemade lemon sorbet.
During lunch, Joe mentioned a couple of job offers that he had received, including one of the managers of a banquet center.
“Oh, not that one with all the trailer park grannies?”
“Yup.”
“Heavy blue eye shadow and pink lipstick.”
“You want some macaroni? Cough cough cough.”
Then Joe stuffed Pumpkin in his shirt and hit the couch.
“She’s already sleeping,” he said.
Following lunch, Carrie kept an eye on Dad with the cookies.
“No more, Dad.”
Dad merely grinned.
Shortly later, upon pretense of clearing dishes from the table, he swiped the cookie plate, and started grinning when Carrie gave him ‘the eye’.
Then Rose returned from the picnic.
“You know what Carrie and Mom made me take for snacks at work?” she asked Collette, wrinkling her nose. “Prunes.”
Into the Odyssey for Dad, Mom, OLeif, Collette, and Puck sandwiched between his two uncles. It took awhile to decide which direction to go, which sent Dad hurdling the minivan around the round-a-bout about a dozen times, before plans were established.
So it was a drive into secluded green hill country, past the tiny overgrown-railroad-tracks community into deeper pastures, horses, wooded hills, and estates. And one stone house with the windows punched out and hung in Christmas greenery, all of which may very well have been instituted in the late 1700’s.
As they drove, they discussed the various houses they liked and disliked.
“Hey, OLeif,” said Joe, “once you guys move out of your house, then I’ll buy it.”
“Sure, I’ll give it to you for $180,000.”
Dad started laughing.
“Yeah, I’ll buy it for $70,000 less,” said Joe.
“$200,000.”
“$12,000.”
“We’re amazing at haggling.”
Then Francis said something to Puck about…
“Don’t play frisbee in the woods.”
OLeif was tickled, “That sounds like a proverb or something.”
On the return, they began to discuss The Flood of ’93, and the predicted devastation of The Upcoming Flood of ’11, after the 700% increase of snowfall in the Rockies that winter.
As they passed the Spirit of St. Louis Airport…
“We should buy kayaks, Dad,” said Joe, “so that when this place floods we can float above the airport and pretend we’re planes about to take off.”
“That sounds like a great idea,” Dad replied, as Joe and OLeif began niner-tango-ing random announcements to each other.
Back to the house.
Joe left to pick up sustenance for his buddies bonfire that night.
Thunderstorms were an apparent possibility.
Francis and Linnea departed for their youth party at church.
Dad and Mom left to bring back tacos.
National news.
Carrie prepared to leave with Lucia for The Loop.
Rose was leaving at 7:30 for a birthday party in the city.
And on the way home, Toblerone for OLeif at another birthday precursor, as he Dr.-Huxtabled-Father-Bear’d his way through the store with a happy Puck.
In other news, Izzy had been awarded a $1,000 academic scholarship through the Ambassadors of Harmony, to be presented the following Saturday during one of their concerts.