April 2

Friday, April, 2, 2010

Coming out of the service Thursday night, the peepers were squeaking out in the fields, from whence came a tugging cool-warm wind. Collette heard it wrapping around the corners of the house that night and through the wind chimes.

On Good Friday, the fifth consecutive early riser of the week…

1. A proper Holy Week sunrise striped in rose and lavender and honey.

2. Dad and Rose were home from work.

3. Joe, after a half-day of classes, was driving Curly down to Wally and Lolli in Rolla, before heading to a cabin for the weekend in the Ozarks. They would be back Saturday night.

4. Rose and Puck were busy clearing out bits of the old overgrown corner of the yard around the ‘penny mound’, a tiny man-made fishpond, and Francis’ little fire pit, mud-muck, green bush, and a prowling Snuggles.

The weather was gorgeous. Beautiful winds in the pines, rocking the old limbs of the oaks and persimmons.

Somewhere in the early afternoon, Collette looked up to see Francis flash past the window heaving the old airplane rocker in his wake. Then Rose ran past. She was on the chase. About fifteen minutes later, they could see the fire roaring in the back yard. Francis was sitting on the airplane rocker with Rose standing next to him. Clearly, she was waiting for the moment that Francis decided to get off the plane. And then she would heave the rocker into the fire. Likely with some magnificent diabolic laugh.

Later, Joe returned from Granada and Dairy Queen. He left the empty sack on the table while he worked.

Linnea came into the room without knowing where Joe had been. She sniffed the bag.

“Who got Dairy Queen?”

That girl had a nose for DQ.

Then Joe and Francis philosophized together for a period of time about dating, girlfriends, and marriage.

Come mid-afternoon, the skies filled.

It was about time.

Collette and Francis watched over the fascinating cloud patterns as they dropped off Linnea at Eleda’s house to spend the night.

And by the time Little Caesar’s had been brought back for the remainder of the family, the rain had just begun to fall.