Knock the Wind Out

Thursday, December 8, 2011
O woe the day…

Over breakfast, Collette shared information about exotic plants around the world with Puck: water lily pads that could support the weight of an adult, a palm tree that ‘walks’, the Arctic Willow (which contains ten times more vitamin C than an orange, much-loved by reindeer), and her old personal jungle favorite: the giant ‘stinking lily’. And 1.2 million orchid seeds apparently weighed only one gram. Always something new to learn…
“Mama? What do lily pads eat?”
“They eat water and sunlight.”
“Could you stand on a lily pad?”
“Sit, at least.”
“Does it not mind if you stand on it?”
“I suppose not.”
“Mama. I have never standed on a lily pad before.”
“Neither have I.”
A huge laughing grin spread across his face…
“Do you want to?”
And, yes… they were back, three chickens hopping around on the back fence.

But normal happy things were soon called to a halt.
St. Louis was stunned that morning.
Collette felt a little ill when she first heard it.

As Puck put it…
“I was going to ask Albert Pujols to sign my name up,” he said with a little shrug. “And now he’s leaving. Isn’t that sad? I bet another Albert Pujols’ll come. And we will love him just as much. And then he will move too.”