Square Dance
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Theodore and Gloria were in Texas that weekend. So OLeif, Collette, and Puck, under still-rain-filled skies, headed over to the Silverspoon’s anyway to see after the animals.
Izzy had already left for play practice when they arrived, having pulled an all-nighter with Charlie and German, etc., who had seemed to enjoy an evening of Dr. Pepper, pizzas, chocolate brownies, and video games.
By lunch, Puck enjoyed a panini of roast beef, greens, bacon, and monterey jack cheese, plus tomatoes and banana on the side, while he watched Magic School Bus: Catches a Wave. It was just about his favorite new series. Then it was nap time.
“You are so full of good food and science,” Collette told him, kissing his shining chubby cheek.
Izzy returned not long later from play-practice, with his entourage, to collect their various items from the previous night.
Around 3:20, a heavy rain began to fall.
Collette and Puck sat outside on the porch and watched it for awhile, then inside for reading books as the thunder rumbled. Then Puck cuddled up in his blankets, as was his current beloved pastime, and talked with Donkey, after which he came over to OLeif and said seriously.
“I had tea in my mouf (mouth), and then it went bye-bye.” And he opened his mouth widely for display.
At 4:56, the sun came out and the tornado sirens came on. The radar indicated a tornado warning. OLeif and Collette stepped outside to have a look at the skies, as did some of the other neighbors. No visible rotation. But Collette was no weather expert. Five minutes later, Izzy left to teach a swing class. And the sun once again retreated as the sirens spun down. And yet suddenly the clouds were moving swiftly and low, in the opposite direction they had been traveling in only minutes before. And everything was… perfectly… quiet…
Then Joe, who had been out on 370 to view the action in the skies, dropped in to see the radar. The storm had passed, but it had been a good display, nonetheless.
Shortly after six o’clock, they departed for church. For the first time in, what was likely several years, a square dance was being held in the barn.
There was already a decent crowd when they arrived, and the caller was just getting things going. To Collette’s just about shock, Dad had joined the line dance by himself. This was next to amazing.
Mr. and Mrs. Tecumseh had also come. And Francis was just about ready to plunge into the refreshments. Linnea stuck with the watermelon.
Puck was so eager to join the dancing, that he tried to pull both OLeif and Collette by the hands out to the floor. So he danced with them for the next set, which was fun. And then he ran off behind Francis to the bowl of gingersnaps.
During the break, Francis raided the brownies while Mr. Swiss came over for a brief chat.
“You know,” he said to Linnea, “I remember when you were so little that you used to sit on my lap and I’d read books to you in the nursery. And you, Francis, you were always eating chocolate. Loved chocolate…”
It was a little hard to believe that when Grace had first begun, Linnea was not quite two. And Francis was four.
The evening ended with towers of violet-gray-black in the skies, just brushed with the glow of a hidden sun.