Redbirds vs. Seamongers
Quarta-feira, Septembro 29, 2010
When Puck woke up that morning, officially… he had actually been awake since before six o’clock… he pulled off his sleeping shirt.
“Is that a T-shirt?” he asked. “Is it for drinking tea?”
Then, as he came out to the car, he had lost his matchbox car up by the windshield wipers.
“Can you get that, Mama?” he asked. “I vroomed my car up there. It got stuck up there by those black waving things.”
Over at the house, there was autumn candy: bars of chocolate, caramel-apple pops, and Tootsie pops.
Mom was waxing the dining room table and told Collette about Dad’s plans to take them both on the Josh McDowell cruise to the Mediterranean the following November, including: Athens, Corinth, Patmos, Ephesus, Galilee, Rhodes, Cyprus, Jerusalem, and Egypt.
Collette purchased Groupons for Bacana Brasil for Mom and Dad at half-price.
Joe had just finished piecing together his next Graphic Design IV project and was out the door to class.
Rose had purchased a stack of books for Carrie-Bri, including Julia Childs’ The Art of French Cooking.
Snuggles had caught a baby bird. Sadly.
And Francis was working on a caramel-apple pop. Puck looked quite shocked at this.
“Oh!” Carrie told him. “Francis is being very naughty!”
Puck just got a big grin on his face.
Meanwhile, after algebra and ACT studies for Francis, it was time for Collette and Linnea-Irish to attend the 12:40 Cardinals game downtown. A lady from church had given them their season tickets for the day. So Collette had brought her red ball cap and a red scarf and a red sweater, to share between herself and Linnea.
Before they departed, Francis was busy outside with Puck, trimming around the trees with the weed whipper. Puck dashed past him with a red frisbee in hand.
“Don’t trim me, Francis!” he yelled.
This was followed with Francis climbing the tree to take down Puck’s broken swing with a bread knife and candle lighter…
He had also been teaching Puck how to ‘put up his dukes’ when threatened by a bully.
And Carrie-Bri was preparing to make Julia Child’s leek and potato soup.
The weather was perfect for a game. Collette and Linnea found a parking garage a bit of a ways down from the stadium. But the exercise was good, and five dollars and twenty minutes later, they had found their seat high above the ball field. The sun was beating, but there was a breeze, and in the bottom of the fourth, the Cardinals hit a homer. It was so long, Pirates, from there. Collette and Linnea departed at the top of the ninth with the score: four, zip. Although Pujols had not been in the batting lineup that day. And after they had left, the Pirates managed to pull off one point.
Back home, it was nearly four o’clock, almost time for supper. And Puck was getting the fohawk cut away for the Christmas family photo. His hair was so white, he looked bald, really. And then he ate a pita — still not the good kind — while Collette and Carrie tried to understand the elaborate composition of the Europa and Champions Leagues. And then… Collette found it. Tucked in Puck’s bag… the bit of sky blue peaking out of it.
“What’s this?!” she asked.
Out it came — the Forlan jersey.
“No way!”
Collette did not usually find herself in such a state of amazement.
“Who got this for me?! Carrie?”
“Nope,” Carrie grinned. “Guess.”
“Mom?…”
“Nope.”
And then she knew. Of course.
“Rose.”
“Yup.”
It was fantastic. Collette put it on right away. One of her immediate favorite possessions — she already knew that.
Not long later, Puck marched into ‘baby choir’ that evening clutching a can of corn, to find his favorite little friend, Anneliese. And while he was busy making a foam and crumpled tissue paper ear of corn and washing and drying the nursery toys as his service project of the evening… Collette remained in the foyer with the other adults for once, before the evening started. And she heard from Judah about their upcoming two and a half weeks of visiting Africa, including a grand total of fourteen flights. And little Baby Hesed was to come in tow. Not many five or six month-olds had the privilege of so traveling.