October 4

For breakfast Puck was given a piece of toast with butter and grape jelly.
“Spoon?” Puck asked. “Spoon, Mama?”
“Why do you need a spoon?” Collette asked him.
She handed him a baby spoon from the drawer.
“Danks,” said Puck, carefully digging the spoon into the jelly spread on his toast.
He lifted a small spoonful of jelly off the toast.
“I eat it?” he asked with a huge grin.

After services, Puck helped himself to a pile of Wheat Thins up at the kitchen counter and repeated over and over, his latest learned phrase from Joe: “Boom shakalakalaka! Boom shakalakalaka!”

After Mom’s beef stew for lunch, followed with key lime pie and Hershey’s chocolate pie, everyone went about their usual Sunday afternoon business. OLeif and Joe left to pick up Joe’s laptop from the Apple store, newly repaired. Mom took Puck on a walk. Linnea played with the little neighbor girls. And Francis returned from a bike ride with Creole and Puff ‘o Lump to work on the go-cart. Francis had just purchased his new engine, and was almost ready to roll.

Nearing five o’clock, Collette walked outside to see Francis, Creole, and Puff ‘o Lump run charging down the street to chase off a small herd of deer into the woods. Then they began burning a large box, which was eventually transferred to the bonfire as they ate dinner and watched old pizza boxes disintegrate into the flames.

That night, OLeif left for youth group and Collette tucked Puck in for the night after praying for his ‘little brother in Colombia’, as always. Then she watched the one and a half hour special of The Next Iron Chef.