It's a Circus

“Man Cave is probably…”

“…the worst term ever?” Bær interrupted me.

“Yeah, it sort of sounds derogatory,” I agreed.

I guess we do finish each other’s sentences sometimes.

“At work,” Bær went on, “if someone said ‘man cave’, I would say, ‘Negative ten beard points.’ And I can say whatever I want because I have the biggest beard.”

Of course.

When Puck was fully dressed for church, he asked if I wouldn’t mind helping him tuck his pants over his cowboy boots because, “It’s sort of respect, you know?”

“I see. So why is it respect?” I asked.

“Because I look fancy. And, I like the way it looks.”

“Hey, what do you think of my orange tights that you picked out?” I asked.

He knelt on the floor to examine. “Nice and soft… chomp-able… and fuzzy.” He crossed his arms. “I like them.”

Maybe that chomp-able part was a little… odd… but if you’ve ever met his aunts, you might understand a little bit about that.

Choked down the fire of communion wine during the service, attempting to prevent sacrilege on my part. Kicked myself for forgetting to pick the grape juice. Sometimes I can’t believe people drink that stuff on purpose.

Puck collected cicada shells at the Big House while Carrie told me her news…

“Well, Collette, I’m in love again.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Osage. He is so cute. He’s a troublemaker, too. But Dad says no more pets.”

Fools me every time.

After pizza, Joe and Jaya left – violin recital – Jaya accompanying. Cahokia for everyone else; one of my favorite places. I think there were some complaints, but we went anyway. Fresh sunshine, billows of green grass, the glint of shine in the Arch some miles in the horizon. Dad and Francis cat-walking the edge and sliding down the rails, respectively, shoving each other off on the walk down.

And a pumpkin patch on the way back. Francis, Linnea, and Puck hit up some sodas while the girls examined goats, ponies, baby pigs, and bunnies… Carrie was appalled at the living conditions.

“Albinos will go blind in sunlight like this. They didn’t even give him any water.”

We left before she chucked a pumpkin at the owners.

I braided Linnea’s hair while Mom turned on “The Ghost and Mr. Chicken”. The two troublemakers took seats next to each other on the couch. When Francis got up for a drink, Puck snagged his spot with a bowl of popcorn in his lap…

“Hey!”

Puck just grinned, still toothless, “Sit on the other side, buster!”

He learns fast.