Five Weeks
It already felt like post-season. It usually did this time of year, even in the dregs of summer heat and only halfway through September. I watched a nasty battle take place between the Cardinals and Cubs while Oxbear changed the oil in the Mazda and Yali watched Puck sharpen a granite rock into a dagger on the driveway, which turned out to resemble more of an Indian axehead than anything else. It had been an ongoing project since he found it near the train tracks by the post office Friday morning.
“Yali, what did you stick in your ears?”
We had just pulled into the Silverspoon’s driveway at about four o’clock in the afternoon. It was warm and we had a late start on the second half of the day. I guess Yali was getting bored on the drive, because he had created his own ear plugs out of scraps from the car.
“Candy wrappers? You stuffed candy wrappers in your ears?”
Inside, Gloria was scrubbing down the kitchen. She had hosted a bridal shower that morning, and while the effects of the bridal shower itself weren’t disastrous, the attempted self-carbonation of juice in the kitchen hadn’t gone off as well as planned. Gloria was still washing down the windows following the unexpected explosion.
About an hour later, Puck ran over to the backyard patio with a large handful of brown mushrooms. Yali also participated in observing the collection, while Gloria supervised to make sure that none of them were ingested by the curious two year-old.
We ended the brief stay with leftovers from the bridal shower, including the portion of the juice that had not exploded in the kitchen. And Izzy breezed in a few minutes before our departure, making plans to spend the next three months on the road with Curly and Lulu, traveling the country with the Gettys. Before we left, Theodore had also smoothed out the sides of Puck’s granite dagger. Puck was pleased with the results.
CARDINALS:
Chicago: 4-5 loss after Cards get his by pitches three times.
Post season berth clinched.
4 games up on Pittsburgh: 92 and 56; 14 games remaining.
Magic Number: 11.