Excuse for Chocolate
Friday, April 29, 2011
In which there is a theft and a royal breakfast…
Puck woke up that morning as usual, with an announcement of how he had slept…
“Daddy! I slept for a whole, whole, whole… very long day!”
Then he got busy with his dump truck which was once again being uncooperative.
“That’s very important,” he charged the truck. “You need to learn to trust and obey.”
As Collette prepared them to leave for the morning, somehow, Collette found herself humming Koyaanisquatsi…
News of the morning…
Andy had, indeed, been robbed. The camera had been stolen from his car. Not only from him, but the neighbor across the street… some ornery kids had broken into his car and taken a gun as well. And, while recalling, Dad had remembered hearing a car alarm go off at 1:30 in the morning at the new neighbor’s house behind the yard. They were apparently from New York, and the man’s name was Armenian.
Meanwhile…
“Something smells like it’s cookin’,” Mom was saying.
“That’s me,” Dad replied.
And… the day of the Royal Wedding had come.
Grandma Combs arrived at the house by nine o’clock.
Aunt Petunia was once again unable to attend due to a demanding work schedule…
Mom had been awake since three o’clock in the morning, intent on viewing the whole ceremony as she had for Charles and Diana in 1981.
Carrie and Rose professed zero interest in the matter.
And as far as Collette was concerned… this was fine excuse to eat things one would normally not be allowed to eat. And she thought that Kate Middleton looked a little bit like their church secretary…
The royal breakfast commenced: Carrie’s homemade scones, shortbread cookies from England, a ham, four boxes of chocolate-covered creams from Grandma in: milk chocolate, mint, orange, and raspberry… Carrie had also made Prince William’s favorite cake, at Grandma’s suggestion, incorporating mostly vanilla wafers, chocolate, and white chocolate. There was a large selection of teas and orange juice as well.
And a replica ring that Grandma had purchased for the occasion, a soft copy of the large sapphire ring circled with diamonds, somewhat like Collette’s own engagement ring, but on a blown-up scale.
Dr. Earnest T. Praetorius cared little about the matter at all, and was busy zooming himself around in wide circles on the carpet of Carrie’s bedroom.
“He likes to show how fast he can go,” she explained. “Sometimes Snuggles will come watch behind the gate [a.k.a. air vent slipped in the doorway] and Earnest will run up and slap his paws on the gate and scare him off.”
The day was mildly cool and warm at once, so Collette joined Grandma and Mom in Old St. Charles to walk around the two hundred year-old cobbles and see what was up, after a drive through Weldon Spring Heights. The weather was fine. And Grandma found a new fleur-de-lis ring.
This was followed by lunch at The Mother-in-Law House for sarnies, soup, and fries.
When they returned…
Carrie was busy picking green worms off the rose bushes. Last year it had been the beetles. And once again, the leaves were already completely riddled.
“I was told to put garlic water on them to keep the worms off,” Carrie said. “But I think they thought it was salad dressing or something because there are even more holes in them now.”
Linnea was busy cutting brightly colored continents out of paper, from memory.
Earnest was caught, red-pawed, chewing on another electrical cord.
“Yeah, I thought he had electrocuted himself one day,” said Carrie, “because I came into my room and his ears were sticking straight up.”
Grandma left by four o’clock to attend a funeral.
The evening soaked into other activities, including watching highlights of the wedding on the tele. After getting some glimpses of the ‘Dr. Seuss hats’, as Carrie described them, the bride and groom, and the live green trees inside the cathedral, Collette concluded that the best part was watching the vicar do cartwheels down the red carpet after the Abbey had been cleared of its guests.
“He was probably dared to do it,” Carrie laughed. “Seminary students. They’re the same all over the world.”
Mom and Dad left on a bicycle-built-for-two ride on the Katy.
Earnest had some hop-time outside.
Francis and Linnea kicked around the soccer ball with Puck.
Joe returned from class, Rose from work.
Francis brought in pizza.
And back to the house for movie night, sans Magnus, after OLeif had just finished mowing the lawn. OLeif’s selection: The Hudsucker Proxy.
The boys ordered their own stuffed crust pizza for the evening. When the delivery man arrived, he saw the stack of musical instrument cases past the front door.
“Is that a ukulele case?” he asked.
“Yup,” OLeif replied.
“I dig it,” was the answer.
And when the pizza box was opened downstairs…
“Call a pastor,” said Joe. “I’m marrying this pizza tonight.”