Preparing for the Annual Visitation of “The Earth Shakers”

Bristol’s 23^rd birthday. The day before, an asteroid half a mile long had come in “close contact” with the earth, passing near the range of the moon. If it had struck the earth, as asteroids had been wont to do in the past, apparently, it might have wiped out a small country. But such things were in the hands of God. Meanwhile, Cape Canaveral was preparing a July 4^th lift-off, the first ever to be done on Independence Day, despite the pencil-thin crack in the foam.

Tuesday night in Hungary had been much better than Monday. Diana had fully recovered and was all gung-ho to get back to trying to speak to the Hungarians in their language, talking with the Canadian brothers, with Singabahambayo and Patty teasing her on about it, etc. That evening, most of the crew went out to dinner, including Andrew Rooseboom, particularly as he was leaving the next morning. There wasn’t a full agreement on where to eat dinner, so Collette decided to follow Singabahambayo (who had lived in Budapest all her life and knew where to find the good eats). Diana tagged along with Junior, Andrew, Patty, and others to check out an odd sort of eatery. The reports were all the same – crepes. It was a place to eat crepes. However, they were cold, and no one but Junior seemed to appreciate them very much. They did get a good kick out of the dinner as a whole, however. In fact, they were so energetic that evening, that they tried an old trick upon finding a phone booth. It was likely Andrew’s idea. The adults and the kids took their turns, cramming themselves inside. Collette opted to be the photographer. At one point, Diana, Andrew, Patty, Sierra, and Bethany all fit inside. The Hungarians stared from the streetside cafe. How many times had Collette pictured the natives shaking their heads and silently saying to themselves:

“Those dumb Americans…”

Meanwhile, Fourth of July plans were bound to be quirky that year. The Combs were to stay in Florissant with Grandma, as Aunt Petunia was still recovering from surgery. The Boy Scouts were taking turns working the parking lots at the festival in St. Charles off and on during Monday and Tuesday. OLeif was working till perhaps one the next morning and possibly over Tuesday itself. And everyone else seemed to want to light their own fireworks instead of seeing the great display… so, it would be untraditional.