Early Week Break
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Puck had run outside for a tempting object at the side of the yard early that morning – a lumpy rock-like piece…
“Mama! Probably it came from an icy mountain, or it’s an egg! Probably it came from outer space! A shooting star went plunk down by Miss Tasha’s truck! A chunk of junk from outer space could have fell down! Do you suppose so? Probably it came from a space ship! Or the moon!”
It was discovered during breakfast that the “rock” was in fact one of the egg-shaped chalks, rain-beaten, which he purposed to carve with an ink pen over his toast, “for you, Mama”.
Carrie called in after eight to divulge the details of an highly successful board meeting – accompanied by Louis Tecumseh – Monday night.
And Cat Duchess Madeline was ready for pick-up.
Puck got another dunk in the tub, late morning, to scrub off purple marker mustache resulting from his writing lesson.
Audio stories over lunch incited Puck to stare weirdly at Collette’s bean and cheddar burrito…
“It… kind of looks like a beard coming out of there, Mama…”
Appetizing.
He watched a fire truck in the street for awhile as Collette packed them up to leave – no explanation. Then he sat in the hatchback of the trunk, watching the neighbors play basketball in the street.
They were cranking out another game in the city that night, part of the ticket package OLeif had purchased. So Puck was out for another night at the house while Collette picked up OLeif from work with a radio sack of two grilled turkey and cheddar sandwiches, lightly salted Pringles, Dutch caramel wafer sandwich cookies, and a cold root beer.
And despite another injury to the team, Wainright stayed in the entire game, providing his third career shut-out, and with only four hits.
It was nice to have a hobby again – statistics, loyalty, non-participatory competition, uninterrupted conversation with OLeif, and downtown St. Louis. That recipe just couldn’t go wrong.