Ch. 181; Vol. 10
We left church for a tall stack of tiramisu. Dierberg’s. [I knew trouble when I saw it; trouble avoided.]
“It’s really difficult to make,” Red Strike’s Mom nodded to them as she placed them in the fridge.
Puck: veggie/feta burgers, watermelon, blowing bubbles with Chet Danger’s wife in the grass, accidentally breaking the tip off a small decorative spiral seashell… By holding it. Oh my son…
The Bear: I didn’t realize so many grown men were capable of lengthy discussions involving Minecraft.
Myself: talking with an old friend from high school about her flourishing aerial arts business in the city. I didn’t try the tiramisu.
Joe sat on the living room floor in his pink jams with polka dots pants and a Deter’s frozen yogurt. Cherry and Irish followed his example. The yogurt, not the pants.
Francis left for an “in service” at work, whatever that was.
“MOM! COULD WE WATCH CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBULBS?!”
[Yes, meat bulbs.]
“Not for Rose’s birthday,” I deterred him.
“Rose is asleep,” said The Bear.
But she was plenty awake for presents. Like old wax seal pewter print earrings, Mark Twain and Jules Verne, cat things: pillow and shirt [ten times too big] from Grandma Combs which she recommended Rose hang from a curtain rod just for the fun of it. 100 Sci Fi films from our little family, including such infamous titles as: Night of the Blood Feast, Morons from Mars, and Santa Claus Conquers the Martians.
Joe dumped a small tree toad on my laptop, practicing his pitching arm in the back yard into a garbage can…
“Aw,” Rose took the little bumpy guy. “Did you know Buddha came back for my birthday? Yup. Hopped right up onto the sidewalk.”
After all these years…
Storm skies ruffling white curtains, the A/C out, green shadows in the yard. The women in the kitchen, Cherry stirring sauce, Dad and The Bear talking church finances. So it was oven sandwiches with STL Provel, homemade mac and cheese, and strawberry pretzel salad.
Then Rose blew out the flame on a tall red candle. And Joe left early to see Jaya before she left for France.
On a pretty important note, Puck had learned – for the first time – how to blow up big balloons.
