Only the Eyes!
Friday, December 09, 2005
The morning was so very white and bright that Collette could not look out the window at church, for fear of blinding. But it was beautiful… and just after the old Busch Stadium was torn down – rubble under snow.
Later that morning, when Mariam Garfunkles came in to fold bulletins with Stephanie Buttercup, she was telling Collette of how she had invited two neighbors to come to the Women’s Christmas Dinner, but one was unable to come as her daughter was preparing to skate in the Olympics, and something had come up, preventing her from attending the dinner.
Shortly later, Stephanie walked in from the blinding white, using Collette’s arm for support.
“Is this in your job description?” Stephanie laughed, “Helping old ladies inside?”
Collete waved her off with a chuckle, and helped her inside, as Stephanie explained that she had once fallen on a slick patch and broken her hip. No wonder she was wary of walking in the snow.
“This getting old is for the birds,” she mumbled, once safely past the front door.
Stephanie wore a lovely sweater that morning, with elk and such Nordic things knitted throughout.
“I got this sweater in Finland, about ten or fifteen years ago,” she was telling Pastor Hatch. “Very warm and comfortable. I wish I’d have picked up about six or so.”
And on the other side of the world, far from the enchanted snow globe of Saint Louis, Curly Hobcoggin, Sr.’s brother, Buster Hobcoggin, was preparing to settle into his new base, stationed in Hawaii. His valor (and receiving of a form of bronze star) and time served had awarded him first pick in the next base at which he would serve. Paradise was apparently high on his list.
The temperature seemed intent on dropping to six degrees that night, and Collette rather wondered if she would be able to stand the cold, having no thermal underwear. To be sure, Joe’s fuzzy red hat was all ready at hand to go. Forest Park’s rink was outdoors and open to the wind, and nothing could be more warm and snuggly to cover her head from it, than Joe’s “fuzzy red” from Chicago.
OLeif called that afternoon to say that one of the salesmen on the floor at work had just been caught for credit card fraud, done right from the office. OLeif had managed to narrow the culprit down between four guys, and the company was currently taking care of the situation..
“Crazy stuff,” he said, “and they’re all really nice guys too.”
Collette was almost sad for the fellow she didn’t know – years in jail perhaps…
Meanwhile, Collette enjoyed hearing once again via email from Rick Steves, in his monthly newsletter:
“As my family and I prepare to spend Christmas at our cabin in the snowy Cascade mountains, I can’t help but be reminded of how we spent last Christmas in Europe, surrounded by new friends and old traditions.
“In Britain, we saw old stone churches in hibernating thatched villages spring to life. Children carefully chose Christmas trees with branches wide enough apart to handle real candles safely. Pagan greens morphed into Christian symbols, filling a market with promises that winter will give way to spring. In Norway, candle-lit Kindergartners brought saffron buns to retirement home grannies, just as they remembered doing 70 years ago. In Italy, shepherds came out of the Tuscan hills to warm villagers with songs and bonfires as a hot-spiced vigil awaited the birth of Jesus…and as a frail but determined Pope celebrated his final Christmas Mass. And in Switzerland, holiday invitations promised guests a warm, cozy time with the strange word “FIGUGEGL” (the first letters of “Fondu isch guet und git e gueti Lune”…fondue is tasty and creates a wonderful conviviality).”
While reading through the psychology text that evening at the office, Collette noted that as of 2002, 11 people died of AIDS every minute, making well over five millions deaths a year due to the disease. Collette recalled the verse from Romans 1:27 “…and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.” – ESV. Collette wondered if this applied. Man had a way of killing himself off – the world TFR (Total Fertility Rate) had already dropped to 2.7 (2.0 being only enough to replace parents upon their death).
Collette wondered when the end would come, exactly. At a time when no one would expect – she knew that. And yet sometimes she wondered how bad things would actually become in the world, before Christ returned. And the Great Judgment Day! Enough to send shivers through every facet of one’s soul. Would she, though one of God’s elect, still be subjected to fall before the throne and give an account of her every action? Surely so – the Bible said it. And yet Christ had saved her, and there was no fear. But the horror of such a thought – when the sheep will be separated from the goats… How could it not make someone squirm – saved or no? Before the Creator and Judge of all things ever to have been, and before. Horrifying thoughts.
Meanwhile, OLeif IM’d her back, saying that he couldn’t write at the moment:
“I’ll talk later. I’m getting stuff for the police right now.”
“Oooo – tough guy,” Collette answered him.
But it truth, it was a sad situation. The police arrived at the building while OLeif was preparing reports, and began interrogating the suspects.
Meanwhile, Collette closed down the office (shades, copiers, doors, etc.) and tied her woolly red scarf around her white sweater. OLeif would pick her up shortly to head down to the city, on that bitterly cold night.
“Only the eyes,” Ivy was saying to her on the phone that morning, when she learned of her venture for the evening. “I always tell Megan on her way to class – the point is not to look cool. I tell her to bundle up and leave nothing but the eyes showing.”