Coin Thieves
Thursday, August 4, 2005
Tuesday evening was spent over strawberry smoothies, iced mochas, and pipes on the patio of the Saint Charles Coffee House – OLeif, Joseph, Collette, Elizabeth, and Carrie. And the following afternoon was at the tea house in New Melle, part of an old German church built in 1878. Carrie moaned the entire time over her fear of antiques and tea rooms. However she enjoyed her fruit and chicken salad.
Outside back at the house the same afternoon, Francis was preparing to capture a queen ant for his ant hill – a Boy Scout project for the summer. Collette advised him to make sugar water and toast to spread around the rope swing tree. And they watched the industrious little creatures in the late afternoon heat.
“Look at those dudes go!” Francis exclaimed, quite intrigued.
He watched carefully, following three or four of the small critters.
“Which one is the speediest?” He wondered aloud, deciding which to follow across the grass to his ant hill.
Meanwhile, Carrie joined them, sitting on the swing. She had thoughts about moving to Memphis, working at Graceland, perhaps after she obtained her masters while working as a police officer. The plans people had…
And at the Botanical Gardens that night, the four girls (Diana, Collette, Carrie, and Eve) walked through the cinnamon ferns, fairybells, and foam flowers, taking in the loveliness of the evening.
After initially walking through the English greenhouse, Carrie and Diana quickly confiscated coins from the fountains which had been laid to rest for the evening, coming up with a significant pile of moldy change to pay for coffee later, including a piece from England and another from Mexico. Collette and Eve just stood aside and laughed at them.
And afterward, there was Kayak’s Coffee House over “David’s Crumb Cake” and Orangina. Laughter, good and serious conversation, goals, ideas, and adventures… Collette could not quite describe all the thoughts that came to her that evening. It had been such a good time together, the chatting while Collette drove the Odyssey and the lights of the evening, the laughing and stories and ideas… They had always been like four sisters together. It was a sweet sadness of sorts, which, by the following afternoon had turned into an optimistic determination. A determination she could not fully describe or even begin to relate. However, it was there, and she knew what it was to the best of her ability. She knew God would guide all their steps.