Linnea Turns Eight
Monday, October 10, 2005
Columbus Day. Collette had somehow manged not to write about Linnea’s birthday, Friday, the seventh of October. And then there was Saturday, the evening being spent at the Buckle’s house in an appreciation cake and snacks for the youth leaders. The Buckles were nice folks. Mr. Buckle traveled the world and Bob showed them a painting which they had purchased while vacationing in France for a month one summer while their Dad worked. But you would have never known they were well-to-do by the way they talked. Even their home was simply and beautifully decorated. And Mr. Buckle was giving advice to Rose, on how to keep the fish aquarium sparkling clean, as theirs (although he insisted it was dirty at the time).
“You could almost drink that water, it’s so clean,” Dad marveled, who inevitably ended up cleaning the fish tank more often than Rose.
But it was a good gathering together of the church folks and the kids – a pleasant evening. Mrs. Buckle was so kind and hospitable.
And Linnea’s birthday had been quite fun, although Carrie was at work at the time. There was for the meal (at Linnea’s request) – homemade mashed potatoes, hot dogs in buns, and a great bowl of frozen fruit. There was, of course, a Dairy Queen ice cream cake for dessert with flowers and “Happy Birthday,” which was a winner with the whole family. Linnea was the cutest little thing in her “Happy Birthday” t-shirt, her hair in a pony tail, her missing front tooth. She passed out Rose’s set of Coca-Cola plates for a colorful table, along with the sparkling New Years glasses from Grandma. And she oohed and awed over her gifts. OLeif and Collette had brought her a Target gift card along with a package of adhesive festive autumn leaves for her bedroom window. She also received many excellent bike gadgets with Joe to advise. And then there was a viewing of the Peanuts for the evening. It was always good to have the family together for birthdays. Festive times.
Sunday was rather a hectic morning for Mom, Carrie, and Linnea as Carrie drove them all over creation. Linnea had to visit the doctor for an infection and medication prescription and then she sang with the other Kids’ Choir Connection kids for church – both her and Frances in their cute little white shirts and Linnea in her new twirly black skirt, black tights, and buckled black shoes. She came into church with her hair in a swingy ponytail and a cup of milk for the road.
The afternoon was quiet and thoughtful. Collette cut out another bunch of letter stencils at Judah’s request, for the church banners. And Mom finished up the last page or so as she rushed to send them off to youth group with OLeif. Joe went to a farewell party for Bodil, who was leaving for the Marines. And Carrie worked on her papers while Dad napped for three hours, and Mom worked on Bible memory verses with Frances and Linnea outside on the picnic table in the cool of the afternoon. Collette read from Grandma Combs’ and Mom’s favorite Mitford series, wrapped up in her comfy sweater, jeans, and slipper socks. She then put on the kettle to boil for hot chocolate and all was peaceful and cool in the early evening of the Lord’s Day. After youth, OLeif dropped off Rose and then he and Collette were to take Molly home. As they left, Molly noticed that Mom was waiting on the front porch.
“Are they going to wave?” She joked.
“Oh, yeah. This is nothing. Usually they’re all out there – the whole family.” OLeif laughed.
“Even if we’re just going to the grocery store and coming right back,” Collette added. “And Joe will start dancing around sometimes.”
“You’re kidding! That’s the coolest. It’s like Mayberry or something.”
“Yeah, Joe’ll be out there with the cats and they’ll all just wave,” OLeif laughed.
“No way. You have the coolest family,” Molly said, waving to Mom and Carrie – who popped out her head to yell:
“Don’t forget to check out you know who.” Carrie winked and pointed both fingers and Collette.
For, OLeif and Collette were headed to the mall to purchase Diana’s birthday present. And although they did not manage to make it there before closing, Carrie wanted to be sure that they checked out Trenton at Hot Topic. Carrie was convinced she should buy the t-shirt which read.
“I dig pale scrawny guys.”
Meanwhile, on the ride to the McCrae’s house, Molly wasn’t happy about a number of things. She had just sold off or given away all her CDs for a good reason and was speaking of her apprehension of her second sister spending Christmas in Albuquerque with her boyfriend, his mother, and an old friend of his mother’s. Molly had a good deal of wisdom stocked up for only being fourteen. It was an encouragement to see so many of the younger ones thinking through the deeper aspects of life, the truths, etc. It was very encouraging. There were so many of those kids they knew and as OLeif and Collette discussed them on the way to the brand new Barnes & Noble, they decided that they would try and round up a handful for a bonfire the next evening.
Barnes & Noble was an inviting, could it be said, inspiring experience. The journal wall made Collette’s mouth water.
“I didn’t know they made journals like this anymore,” she said, eying the fabulous leather-bound volumes, full of thick pages.
Indeed, several could have come from the library of an ancient scholar or theologian. And there were quill pens with brass tips, a variety of ink in small glass bottles displayed against African maps and red sealing wax. Collette decided that if once again, she took her journaling seriously, she might pick out one of the leather pieces.
Monday morning, Collette brought over the eight sticks of wood from their balcony, for the bonfire. And then she and Carrie drove to the grocery store to stock up on the necessary items to construct s’mores, popcorn, and several pots of Carrie’s delicious hot apple cider. There might have been caramel apples as well. But in the end they decided against it. Carrie was more keen on chopping down a dead tree in the backyard for more fire wood, rather than making a batch of sticky caramel apples. And so the day was spent with Grandma Combs. And she had brought boxes of jelly donuts and black and orange sprinkled donuts. There were also gifts for Linnea, which included a comical bird feeder with a cat figurine clamoring up from the bottom with his head stuck inside the cage. There was also a tree face with glowing eyes, which Carrie immediately fastened to the tree nearest the patio door. There was a little lunch box as well, the type one could see through, filled with little gadgets, including silly putty. Grandma always found the best things.