Birthday Season
Friday, February 11, 2011
Collette woke herself from dragging an enormous schooner through the high seas towards… was it Florida, Holland? She could not remember. And the attempted rescue at night of some unfortunate gentleman who was drowning off the side of the ship… it was unsuccessful, apparently…
Beside that point, however, Collette had woken herself with a moderately-cloudy to stormy sinus headache.
On that double birthday, the first to celebrate was Grandpa Snicketts’ 83rd. Dad would drop by to visit him on his way home from work.
And the rest of the day began with Francis and Puck outside, flying Francis’ new Thunder Strike down the street, Puck running behind it, holding Donkey by one ear.
On the counter was, indeed, an array of champagne cupcakes, iced in white.
And on the table: a cake from Grandma for Francis that had, somehow, turned upside-down on the floor.
Francis had already begun to reel in the birthday bounty four days early. From Grandma: flares and fireworks.
There were also gifts passed along from Aunt Petunia: book laces that she had beaded. Carrie took the lapis blue after Collette had taken the brown with the silver tiger face charm.
Rose was busy sanding the spackled walls of the basement.
And plans were going ahead to send off Mom and Dad to the Mediterranean, configuring the necessity of Dad using the amazing amount of points that he had collected towards first class tickets to Europe. Carrie was to arrange the tickets to Lisbon.
Then Francis and Puck took turns pushing each other in the big orange sled down the ice ramp that OLeif had made, from the holly tree down to the street.
Mom and Carrie-Bri ran errands in Chesterfield, including a hair trim for Mom, who was no longer sporting the ‘boy cut’.
And, as it was time for algebra…
“Lila has to do school before she goes to Heaven!” Puck exclaimed.
In other news…
Dad had been approved to begin work on his dissertation, having passed the initial phase of his PhD program.
Into the afternoon…
Francis went off to madrigal practice with his aircraft mechanic material to study during downtime.
Linnea worked on another lengthy conversation with Cherry, which seemed to be a daily event.
And while mathematics commenced, Rose, who was seen half the day wearing a dust mask against the flying spackling, was busy making Snuggles do ballet and spontaneously sneeze for Puck’s amusement.
“He wants to be free!” Puck declared.
“No. He likes being captive.”
“He loves you,” said Puck seriously.
Then she brought out a dish towel emblazoned with pink and white hearts.
“He’s wearing his Valentine’s Day cape,” she said, tying it around his neck.
Puck naturally thought that this was hilarious.
And Snuggles ran off.
Meanwhile, Linnea was hanging backwards and upside-down on the bench, watching the clouds through the window.
“That one looks like a heart,” she said.
By four-thirty in the afternoon, Linnea-Irish and Gretyl Plum had been dropped off at the library for their Un-Valentine Party, to be concluded at five-forty-five.
And Collette and Puck were returned home for the evening after Puck had been shipped off with swimming goggles and light-up swimming torpedos and packages of oven-bake clay from his aunts.
Before Puck was put down to sleep for the evening…
“How does God get us to Heaven?”
“That’s a special secret. God will tell you when it’s time.”
“I can bring my baby Earf to Heaven so I know where my baby brudder is.”
“You won’t need the baby Earth there, because your baby brother will be with you in Heaven.”
“But baby brudder is going to have to use the loo in Heaven first before he comes to us. Den I will go get him.”
O, the elaborations of a three year-old…
Meanwhile…
Mom and Dad were to apparently enjoy a cheese and wine tasting at the McCrae house that evening while Judah and Evangeline presented their upcoming move to Ethiopia.
OLeif, Joe, and Rose were to take Magnus out for his 22nd birthday to the Kemper Art Museum at Washington University and then to Red Robin, which was originally to have been The Scottish Arms, for supper. Followed by Hamlet. Collette heard them arrive at ten or so and depart at somewhere around one in the morning.