October Begins
Sunday, October 2, 2011
In which October begins with the usual sorts of Sunday issues…
“Do you want to wear Chucks or wellies today, Puck?”
He grinned…
“Feet.”
During services, Collette noticed that the music during offertory was taken from a Chinese hymn. Mom learned how to tie scarves a new way from Oluva Cross, whose daughter regularly brought her scarves from Turkey. And Puck played with a small chunk of asphalt during the sermon. A mountain of gingersnaps on the table afterwards…
Back on the ranch…
Joe was busy parading the cacophony of his Scotland the Brave done as a round. Several times over…
Carrie was in the kitchen…
“Agh! How do I make such a mess!”
Things were moving on. Rose had found a definite roommate, and they would have an apartment located by the end of November. So Rose was already busy packing up her loads of books and DVDs.
”I’m taking Genesis too,” she said, pointing to the small palm tree by the window. “And Dad let me have the spinning chairs.” [turquoise seats, 1950’s]
During lunch, Joe recounted how Magnus had pulled off an outrageous accent for an hour or more while they were at a restaurant the previous evening with friends…
News was caught up…
Mom had been with a friend in New Salem on Friday. Francis had been at Six Flags on Saturday. Linnea at a volleyball tournament in Rolla. They had won their match.
Lunch itself was from scratch, as usual: chicken cordon bleu, apple-sausage stuffing, and apple dumplings.
Then the matter of eyebrows was addressed…
“You’re growing your eyebrows out?” Joe asked Carrie. “Yeah, sistah!”
They slapped a high five across the table.
“Well, not as much as yours though.”
“Aw.”
“Actually, your eyebrows are in vogue now. If you went into a modeling agency, they’d be like, ‘Oh! Zee eyebrows! Zay are… vunderful!’”
Joe wiggled his eyebrows up and down.
“You know how you can tell how bad the winter is going to be by looking at those caterpillars?” said Francis. “Well, maybe we can just tell with Joe’s eyebrows instead.”
“Oh! Could I have zebra eyebrows? White black, white black?”
Following the meal, Rose was reading Tin-Tin, Carrie was pondering Victoria’s Secret snow leopard satin pajamas…
“Oh yeah,” said OLeif. “Those are for me, right?”
Francis explained how, as an end-of-the-quarter Sunday School review, Henri had asked the students to rate OLeif’s beard…
Puck was busy watching ‘Dr. Doodle‘, fascinated with the Push-me-Pull-You.
Carrie poured water down all the boys’ backs. She chased off Francis, and Joe’s hands went flailing as he ran away, squealing, around slamming more eyeball bouncy balls on the floor.
Rose was sprawled on the counter by the whistling teapot.
Joe poured himself a hot chocolate and prepared to leave the kitchen…
“Aw, I’m gonna do a double chocolate,” he said, turning around. “Double chocolate! We should go to Rockwoods Reservation, Mom.”
“That might be a little far…”
“That place rules, Mom! Get out of town! I’m gonna buy some rope and attach it to the big oak tree so we can swing around the whole yard.”
Naps for Dad, Mom, OLeif, Francis, and Linnea.
“Puck, I’ll give you two chocolate pennies…” Carrie tempted him.
Puck, anticipating a trade-off, replied…
“OK, but do you have to have my tummy?”
In the afternoon…
“Who wants to go outside?” Mom asked.
“Me three, Grandma! Me three!” Puck exclaimed.
So everyone began to meander to the back lawn for various activities. Puck tugged a baseball helmet onto his head and barefooted it in the swing, pushed by his grandma. Linnea practiced volleyball until Francis kicked it into the very top of the tallest tree in the yard. After this, there was nothing else to do but join Joe in throwing acorns and other bits of ground items at Rose, who was balanced on the unplanted window well balanced arch-style in the grass… until Dad made her get off. Then OLeif, Joe, and Francis got busy working in an artist colony with Linnea on the patio with sidewalk chalk…
“Look, Carrie laughed. All the E’s and one I. Francis can only draw circles.”
“It’s my soul,” said Francis, as Puck came over to dance on top of the masterpiece.
The grass was growing brittle-dry.
And in other variety-news…
There was a new laptop in the family. Dark red and shiny. Apparently the last had suffered…
“Linnea stepped on it.”
The fonny (as the Creole say it) story about how several of the folks Dad had worked with on projects in the past, kept his photo badge in in their desk drawers, after he had moved onto another contract, and would look at it to calm them down when feeling stressed or upset. Dad had been slightly embarrassed when pressed to tell the tale.
“Aw, isn’t he cute?” Mom would say.
As the evening rolled in…
A little rugby between Canada and the All Blacks, for the boys.
Carrie prepared to contact an Australian in Malaysia regarding IT work for Dad’s company, and coffee with Lucia.
A fire was built in the grate in the yard, much smaller than the last time, and jumbo marshmallows.
“Mom,” said Joe, “could we build a replica of the White Cliffs of Dover in the backyard?”
“Sure.”
“Why?”
“’Cause I want to cross the English Channel every morning.”
“Or we could build the Eiffel Tower,” Linnea suggested.
“What about Mount Rushmore, but with famous Indian faces?” Rose suggested.
“Or bunnies,” said Linnea.
“What’s that on your leg?” Rose yelled at Francis.
Francis quickly stomped it into the dirt.
“What was that?”
“I’ll never know now.”
“It was a bug!” Rose squawked. “It was going to lay eggs on your leg.”
“It may have been a leaf,” said OLeif.
“Apple core!” Joe shouted.
“Apple core,” Francis replied.
“Who’s your friend?”
“Linnea.”
“No, I’m not!” Linnea took off flying.
And Puck spent the night.
Collette had more work the following day…
On the way home, they dropped into Aldi, and to get a pineapple for Puck. Pita chips, hummus, and chocolate peanut butter cups over the first season of Modern Family.