Milieu
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Francis requested two egg sandwiches just about as soon as Collette hit the front door, before picking up their lawn mower for self-service.
Linnea caught a bad cold and plunked out more ukulele on the roof after completing her math assignment.
Carrie had a business meeting with programmers over lunch, also with Lucia, and continued feeling the effects of a nasty allergy season, as did almost everyone in St. Louis, including Collette.
Joe had pieced together a film for Magnus’ art exhibition. And his commencement announcement had recently arrived in the mail, Carrie read it…
“Please let us know if you intend to participate in the ceremony, so we can order your crap. Oh, cap.”
Puck was out in the corner for an extended period of time until he repented of his ways and adjourned to the tree swing, bikes, and tossing Joe’s black devil rubber duck up and down the stairs an exorbitant number of times with Collette.
While lunch wrapped up over Don Knotts in the old west, Puck busied his hour in wrestling-fighting his two laughing uncles, then promptly burst into tears when Snuggles escaped into the yard…
“He’s going to eat the baby bunnies!” he screamed, tearing off past the rose bushes behind the feline.
While she calmed the Puck, Collette’s next assignment was to determine Francis’ chemistry text option, with Joe egging him on…
“What happens when you mix cornstarch and shortening together?”
“Biscuits,” Mom suggested.
“Who knows what’s going to happen? Nitroglycerin.”
“You throat disappears?”
“Dynamite with the fish.”
“There’s a fish fry tonight.”
Puck was soothed and marched around the front yard on patrol with Mom’s red and black umbrella until the heat pushed him back inside for the set of Charlie Brown encyclopedias, as Collette got busy with figures and white-out over a stack of Francis’ merit badge paperwork.
Mom prepared a nap while Joe, in his last-days-at-home, requested some sport in the yard…
“Francis, badminton?”
“School.”
“Collette, badminton?”
“I’ve got to help Fran.”
“Mom, badminton?”
“After my nap.”
Collette surveyed Francis’ chemistry/Eagle application while the boys argued motorcycles and Puck lugged the Cheez-It box under the dining room table to hide from Linnea.
It was 90 degrees.
Ninety.
But Collette still played about two rounds of badminton with Joe, before Creole rode in on his new motorcycle in DQ crew uniform, with Francis already at work, then Linnea departing for youth group, followed by Joe leaving for church, and Dad – after his run – and Mom spending dinner at Thyme Out in Cottleville. Everyone was always busy. And Collette, Carrie, and Puck shared Hannover’s pretzel bags from the laundry room.
OLeif picked them up at 7:30, providing Collette the necessity of, after six weeks and two days of owning the beast, actually driving it.