Quiet Friday
Friday, July 27, 2007
Friday began with yellow-green treetops and overcast skies. St. Louis was due for a little rain. However, as the morning went on, the sun came out again. Collette could almost hear the dry grass give a little sigh. Despite the dryness, it had been an amazingly mild July. Most of the time the temperatures had been only in the high 80’s. Another unpredictable weather pattern for the city.
Puck was wearing his orange outfit with a monkey holding a banana on the front. It read: “Crazy”. He wasn’t looking terribly crazy, sitting in his bouncy seat sucking his “wow” for all it was worth. But he did spit it out after awhile and tried his best to sing with the Spanish music over the speaker system that morning. He couldn’t decide whether to dance or to sing. His feet kept kicking as fast as he could make them go. And his arms followed suite.
He was also just on the verge of learning to grab at things dangling in front of him. Still sitting in his bouncy seat, he thrust out his little fists toward the stuffed animals hanging from an arch over his seat. Most of his attempts were successful. It was funny watching him learning how to use his hands.
His fuzz collection was also growing. Some of his favorite pieces of lint he liked to hide under his thumb. Collette was continually pulling blanket fuzz from between all of his fingers. He was also very sly about grabbing at her hair to add to his collection.
“No, Puck,” she often had to tell him. “I know you like your fuzz. But you can’t have Mom’s hair.”
In other news, it wasn’t feeling much like a Friday.
Collette opted not to attend the church ladies’ ice cream social that night. Mom and Ivy would probably be there. But no matter how much Collette tried to convince herself to go to those kinds of gatherings, she could never make herself do it.
And Puck had to be administered dark Karo syrup in his bottle that night for unmentionable reasons. The little nipper would be in for a sweet surprise.
Meanwhile, at around 4:30, after Collette had awaken Puck from another snooze, they went for a walk around the neighborhood. The air was so warm, Collette couldn’t keep him out for long. They passed by the house where the retiree horticulturist lived. For weeks, a gladiolus had been blooming in his front yard. Only two blossoms grew on it – a bright candy pink blossom and a vivid yellow blossom – growing like two giant lollipops out of the small dark green plant. But Puck didn’t notice them. He was busy watching his feet, making sure they didn’t get away from him.
Once they had spent long enough in the warm afternoon, they returned to the cool of the house. Puck was still studying his feet as Collette carted him in his stroller through the front door.
“Meow,” Puck said, batting at the animals above his head.
“What was that?” Collette asked him.
Puck made no further comment. Apparently the “meow” had been accidental.
Collette spent the rest of their afternoon conversation telling him about his Great Grandpa Combs.
“He would have loved you, buddy,” she told him.
By the time the evening came, there was a dark storm in the east. The wind had picked up some, but nothing ever happened.
When OLeif returned for the evening, he gave Puck his bottle. Apparently the syrup agreed with him. Puck continued to suck on his lower lip while OLeif talked to him. He tried his best to keep chewing on his lip while being tempted to smile at the same time. He tried especially hard not to smile when they sang their song for him. But the smile still escaped past the slurps. Collette decided that his theme song for the week could be that old Veggie Tales hit: “I Love My Lips”.