Puck and His Wow

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Puck woke up with plans to roll. Something about viewing the world from the stomach was more exciting than lying on one’s back.

The day was the perfect mixture of warmth and coolness. Before the sun had fully risen, the back corner of the lawn was dark garden green, someplace other than the St. Louis suburbs.

Puck was enjoying learning how to take his wow out of his mouth and put it back in his mouth, grinning all the way at his new feat.

“May I have the wow, Puck?” Collette asked him.

Puck thought about this, smiling. Collette tried to sneak toward him, ready to snatch it. Puck took aim.

Smack!

Down came his hand on Collette’s face. Puck giggled happily. He had bested his mom. And the wow went back into his mouth.

Puck enjoyed his second walk of the day, rumbling down the road, chewing on the lion appliqué on the front of his outfit. He watched a motorcycle whiz by three times, driven by a grandpa and his little grandson who lived next store. Later, the grandpa was out in his backyard teaching his son archery, despite the small space available there.

That evening, after catching snippets of the President’s address to the nation, OLeif made a “run for the border” to the grocery store – Oreos, potato chips, and Pumpkin Spice beer.

“I met this Scottish guy at the store,” he said. “Well, he was in line behind me. He said, ‘What’s life without a good beer?’”

Hops. Sometimes the smell was overwhelming.