Eighth Day: The Beatitudes
Tuesday, January 2, 2007
For their only Tuesday in Egypt, Carrie-Bri and Rose were to cruise further south to arrive early in the morning at Aswan where they would be docked, it appeared, for the following three days or so. There, the ancient granite quarries awaited them where they would see the unfinished obelisk. (Collette sometimes wondered why it was left in such a state – some national emergency, perhaps?) Following this spectacle, the girls would motorboat over to the Temple of Isis on the Island of Philae.
Tuesday was a day for the kids to resume choir again, as early in the month as it was. No doubt Mrs. South would already have all the madrigal sign-up sheets ready, pencils attached. Their fourth bi-annual madrigal dinner would come early that year, in March, which meant the preparations would likely be fast and furious. Those were fun days; Collette recalled the first one they put together back in the spring of 2001. And Rose was debating whether to sign up for the dance or not, several of which took place during the dinner.
“I don’t think I want to,” she had wrinkled up her nose at the thought. “Last year one of my partners was Wally. And that didn’t go too well.”
Meanwhile, that Tuesday morning, Joe brought out his I’m proud of my Eagle Scout bumper sticker to ask Dad if he would let him put it on the minivan. Dad had a strong personal dislike of bumper stickers and anything touting the pride of the family name or anything else, on the back of vehicles. Only once before, back in 1992, would he permit Bush/Quail bumper stickers in the lower back windows of the cars, affixed with tape for easy removal. But Mom had other ideas when it came to bumper stickers.
“Martin,” Mom said, “I want that sticker on the back of the car. I know we never put anything on there, but this thing I want.”
Mom had spent a number of sleepless nights over Joe’s Eagle project herself, wondering if Joe would ever have it completed in time. She felt nearly as much accomplishment as Joe did, when he finally told them four months earlier that he was finally awarded his Eagle, days before his eighteenth birthday. And so placing the bumper sticker on the back of the car was a sort of milestone in her mind.
So Dad finally decided that for once in their lives, he would allow the fated bumper sticker to be affixed to the minivan, and not with scotch tape.
“OK, Dad, I’ll put it on your car then,” Joe said on the way out to the garage, sticker in hand, a wicked grin on his face.
“Don’t you dare, Joe,” Mom called after him, laughing a little.
Meanwhile, Collette wondered if the Boy Scouts would actually be able to ski at Hidden Valley that Friday night. Despite the fact that the snow was manufactured by machine every winter, the week was scheduled to be too warm for the snow to stay unmelted on the slopes. Maybe one year they would actually be able to convince OLeif to come with them. So far, they had been royally unsuccessful. OLeif didn’t seem too confident careening down a hill with nothing but two spindly poles to keep him standing.
And the day was pretty quiet, all things considered. OLeif set up appointments with four loan officers for the rest of the week. And Mom, Collette, and Linnea visited Trader Joe’s once again where bittersweet sat in packages next to bunches of fresh tulips (already, although it was still winter).
Come early evening, Dad, Mom, and Linnea dropped Collette off at the apartment on their way to meet Joe and Frances at the movies.
In news of the world, the funeral of former President Ford had been conducted in Washington D.C. that day.