Goodbye, Old Punk
Saturday, December 31, 2011
In which the last day of the year happens…
A final day to the year to get whatever needed to be done, done.
It really wasn’t feeling so very much like New Year’s Eve.
Puck was picked up from the house where Carrie was busy with her sun lamp to return her sleep cycles to equilibrium. She had also found a plot of land in Chile for 12,000 Canadian dollars.
On the cusp of a new year, while they waited for OLeif to mail an envelope at the post office to Great Uncle Harry, Puck was feeling contemplative…
“I’m thinking about myself and when I will die and go to Heaven…”
Over at the Silverspoon’s the rest of the family was waiting to have the annual photo taken on the green, the common ground in the neighborhood. And despite some expected struggle with Puck, and wind, the session was brief.
The weather was fine, even with the sun out.
Back to the Silverpoon house.
Puck made M’nM cookies with Kitty.
And Gloria went out to purchase the necessary M’nMs and charcoal for the grill. She returned to place the chicken on the grill.
“All these chickens gave their lives…” she explained to Puck. “So we could have their wings.”
OLeif and Relevance discussed technologically-based problems, and something about… “We’ve solved every other problem in the universe.”
Izzy was on his laptop, and Puck asked him…
“Are you looking at pictures of pretty girls or pretty boys?”
Relevance, Kitts, and Curly were gone to record a song written by Mr. South about the Cardinals by one o’clock.
Puck went out to keep an eye on Snickers with his telescope, while Gloria brought in the grilled chicken wings with dips, chips, and then the palm-sized M’nM cookies for dessert.
Puck’s thoughts continued…
“Some day Nana will die and I will die and you will die and you will die and you will die. And we will all be so happy. With God.”
And the afternoon progressed quietly, Puck coyly asking to ‘take things home’, including a Lego catalog, before Gloria took him out for the afternoon. And Theodore napped while the boys flipped on an international spy film: Knight and Day. Portuguese Azores, trains in the Alps, batteries, Spain, driving to Cape Horn…
Puck returned from playing at the park with several home school group neighbors down the street.
On the ride home, Puck held the tiny antique Japanese magnifying glass that Gloria had let him take, and listened to some new music.
“Is this a song about a girl and a boy?” he asked thoughtfully.
So Collette kept to her usual tradition of staying in on New Year’s Eve, with Puck down following a peanut butter and apple butter sandwich. And OLeif returned for some chats and games at the Silverspoon house.
And thus, the year did end.