Glitters & Photographs

The United States had proved their abilities over and over through the games, this time with a gold for Shawn Johnson and a silver for Nastia Luikin on the balance beam, another silver for Jonathan Horton, and a handful of gleaming medals in track and field.
Collette and Puck were over for more teaching. Linnea amused Puck with Lincoln Logs in the basement while Collette worked with Francis on his algebra. Puck seemed less interested in building, and more in destroying. After another colossal knock-over of Linnea’s third tower, she was a little tired of it all.
“I give up!” she exclaimed. “Puck, I was going to take a picture of this tower and put it in the newspaper,” she giggled.
Meanwhile, Rose was cleaning her beta fish bowl. After transferring the grumpy fish to a mason jar of water, Rose began the delicate process of washing out the large glass bowl.
Crash!
“Oh, no!” Rose exclaimed, looking miserably at the large shards of glass cracking into the kitchen sink.
“How did that even happen?” Collette asked.
“I don’t know,” she said mournfully, and found the phone to call Mom who was already on her way to Wal-Mart.
“Could you please get another bowl, Mom? Just like the first one?” she pleaded. “Oh, but Mom, he liked that bowl. He really did.”
Carrie had pictures and films from the British Isles. Rainbows spreading across open green hills and fields, stately cliffs looking out to the Atlantic, fairy trees, and royal buildings…
“I had my picture taken with one of the palace guards,” Carrie said. “I made him laugh. I told him his hat was sexy.”
By the late afternoon, a welcome gray drizzle began to fall.
The rain had also come steadily and heavily to Beijing where May-Treanor and Walsh were competing in the gold medal beach volleyball match against China. They beat the Chinese team two rounds to nothing in the downpour. Yet another exciting victory for the United States.