Seven Days
Monday, December 18, 2006
Collette had once again been met with strange dreams during the night, which she could not remember, but somehow affected her waking hours.
The snow had officially been melted, except for small mounds here and there. The bulk of it had lasted about ten days or so, and then came a warm spell.
Back on the ranch, Carrie-Bri prepared a breakfast of freshly blended strawberry and blueberry slushes and coffee cake. Sniffles were still running rampant, and the rashes were slowly leaving at the Snicketts house. (On the other side of town, however, OLeif’s co-worker had a daughter down with Scarlet Fever.) Odd things seemed to be about in the air that early winter, old sicknesses resurfacing from time to time.
Most of Monday, it seemed, was spent trying to get Linnea to finish her food portions for each meal and to drink more water – Linnea was very unconscious of her own health. Collette read her a short commentary from Acts 19 in the morning (translating the best she could) and they played a round of Monopoly while Rose was up at the college settling various items for the spring semester.
Later, Carrie-Bri read through her travel papers for Egypt and made plans with Eve to venture out on their first preparatory hike for the Outback. Frances left with Mom for basketball practice. And Joe had his own plans to attend one of the recitals that evening, but soon decided that he still did not quite feel well enough to venture out. Neither did Rose, although she was disappointed not to be present to hear Annamaria perform.
But Rose had to concentrate on getting well. Collette had decided that the next day, Tuesday, would be Rose’s last school day of the year, allowing her a free all-day Wednesday for Christmas shopping with Mom and Holly. After all, Rose’s plate was completely full until the day she left. Collette realized that a little good Christmas cheer and generosity were favorable, and figured that whether Rose passed her CLEP on Tuesday or not, she finally deserved a good break. Rose would likely have shown even more appreciation for this rare treat, should she have been feeling more like herself.
In other news, Jashub was back from Australia. Collette wondered if he was permanently returned home, or if he would venture another year down under. Come the 23rd, they would surely hear all his new plans.
Before the day had ended, Linnea was complaining of an earache and sat on the couch eating dinner, looking rather mournful. Collette hoped they would all be able to pull themselves together in time for the first family Christmas gathering that Saturday.
Collette returned home that evening to fix OLeif a late dinner and wrap some of the Christmas gifts. It was eight o’clock by the time she had finished, and she realized that she was rather sleepy.
“I lack two front teeth, which were knocked out by a stone thrown by the hand of a Briton, and therefore speak with a hiss; still the happiest of my days were passed in Briton.”
– Aulus, Quo Vadis