Static
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
It was over.
Static.
Collette would never turn on 99.1 FM again. It was no longer what she had known for 25 years. No longer those familiar voices she had known longer than even her own brothers’ and sisters’. All her life… It left a somber gray, to match the skies that morning.
But what else was there to do? There were far more terrible things in the world happening every second. And Collette could only hope, in her usual Collette-imagination, in a place that never changed, that they would, indeed, resurrect. With the same people, the same music, the same everything… but that was a place lived only in Collette’s mind.
The day was quiet.
Carrie-Bri was still painting for Mom. This included her own room, which was no longer a dark gray, but a pale yellow, to match the sun.
Francis breakfasted on a plate stacked high with watermelon.
Collette resumed Portuguese with Linnea.
Puck excitedly operated his latest gift: a squirt water bottle, which Collette had added to the grocery list, as a response to his latest interest. And then he took a walk with Mom and Linnea-Irish.
Later on, Linnea and Puck watched I Love Lucy over lunch while Linnea braided anklets from colored threading floss anchored to her leg with scotch tape.
Meanwhile, the white board grocery list read:
- Trail Dust (bacon seasoning)
- Topo Chico (Mexican sparkling water)
- dried cherries
- unfiltered apple cider vinegar
- stamps
- ground ginger
…all in Carrie’s handwriting, the resident chef.
And word from New Mexico was that Joe had been commissioned to design the hats used by the dining staff at Philmont, to be seen by over 20,000 Scouts.
Then Collette and Carrie discussed soccer and which clubs they would ‘join’ in the fall. Collette was headed for Madrid, Carrie, for Barcelona.
The afternoon was usual for Wednesday afternoons. And Puck, who was feeling in a feisty mood, rough-housed a bit playing “Monster” with Collette.
“I’m gonna eat your bones, Mama!” he declared with a grin.
But the surprise of the day was seeing Spain beat Germany 1-0. Shockers never ceased in this World Cup. So now Uruguay would meet Germany on Saturday for the 3rd place match. And it would be Spain versus the Netherlands on Sunday for the title.
And in the late afternoon, the rain drove in after the wind. Like a jungle rain. Collette, Francis, and Puck watched it from the porch. Then Francis and Puck found a big, fat toad to spray with Puck’s squirt bottle.
It was Movie Night with Rose. Oven pizza, lime tortilla chips, ginger ale, and Italian ices, courtesy of Rose.
“Lime tortilla chips, Collette,” OLeif offered her. “You’d better eat it. You know we never buy stuff like this. We should just have Rose come live with us and buy all our food.”
Nature’s first green is gold
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
~ Robert Frost