May 18th 2025
Yali walks into my room that morning with his hair slicked over carefully in Australian beeswax... “I did my hair like Uncle Curly!” he announces proudly...
Minutes later I discover that someone has changed my Spotify from calming Gregorian chant to sing-along songs about poop...
Flip-flopped Sunday with Oxbear “eldering” for the second service...
So ESL Bible study first – new girl from Taiwan... big happy smile – studying the Book of John...
Yali walks out of Sunday School with Patience laughing about his buddy... “He spilled hot chocolate all over the floor then used his Bible lesson project to clean it up!” he laughs across the parking lot...
Ten-thirty service in the creaky ship pew... Pastor K leaves the chancel to pass a penned note to Oxbear... he doesn't need to help serve communion this morning...
Special offering for the tornado victims after the service...
Puck is mad... his cat is not adjusting to the new litter box and has been banned once again to the basement... but Puck is also feeling parent-guilt... “Help me get him back up” he urges... “he's in the ceiling down there”... but cat won't move...
Meanwhile Oxbear is in the front lawn in his socks spray-painting 3D-printed costume pieces on flattened Amazon boxes...
...Yali carefully observing... but also packing mats of sun-dried clover greens all over the dog's back... sunbathing on the front walk... exuberance of birds and insects and a cool sunshine about her...
It's a double-drive weekend... while Puck works another four hours in produce the rest of us drive down through the hills in an advancing silver cover of cloud to check out Francis' and S's new property at the top of the Ozarks... gather about nine ticks between all of us as Oxbear points out the wild garlic by the creek...
Then over to Mastodon State Park to walk down to the Kimmswick “bone bed” and back up through the quiet wood...
...rolling down the road... windows open because the A/C is out... Yali grabs another tick off himself... “No buddy!”... tosses him out the window...
And home to help Puck reconnect with his disgruntled cat... “He's being so dramatic” Puck rolls his eyes...