Surprise of Nature
Friday, March 25, 2011
In which the snow returns in spring…
Collette woke from dreams regarding:
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snow days at a nearby school
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shelled corn
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an old friend, Felicity Octagon, getting married
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a rainy night
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a rather grizzled gray-haired Scottish mountain man (short beard, short hair) in the woods under intentional bowers of red and purple flowers
“Look outside, Mama, Daddy!” Puck cried, throwing aside the curtains in surprise. “Snow!”
Enormous gossamer flakes. In spring. A beautiful awakening.
“Are you going to hold on to Daddy to keep him from going to work today?” Collette asked him, as was Puck’s usual method of attempting to keep his daddy at home.
“I can’t hold on to him,” Puck replied. “He has to go work money so we can eat. You’re just kidding, Mama.”
“That’s right. I have to fight river pirates for a living today,” OLeif said groggily.
Then it was ‘dogpile’ on Mama. Collette had learned, living in a house with two hardy boys, that being crushed from time to time was all part of the deal.
“My organs can’t take the weight, boys,” Collette wheezed a little.
“Do you want me to do something about it, Mama?” Puck asked.
He proceeded to poke OLeif in various places to find the ‘button that made him get up’.
Puck’s entire morning was spent in reading Calvin & Hobbes and taking apart and piecing together Rose’s old clarinet.
“I’m making a trumpet!” he declared.
Accompanied by Target’s Lifescapes, John Piper, and Mark Twain.
During lunch, Puck listened to more Adventures in Odyssey. He remembered hearing the tale of Moses from the previous afternoon…
“The Angel of Deaf (Death) is still there!” he exclaimed.
At the crux of the afternoon…
Spurgeon.
Puck amused himself during Quiet Hour with his imagination, the cooling rack for the baking stone, and a bag of brightly colored blocks normally reserved for Leia’s entertainment.
A new find at the library by OLeif for Puck: Lulu and the Brontosaurus.
Carrie briefly video-chatted about instrumental music for Les Miserables and to talk to Puck about his squishy cheeks and taking cookies out of the oven.
There was a special treat for Puck that night: a crack at the age-old baked cinnamon toast in the oven. It was a hit.
That night, OLeif returned late, after one-thirty, after joining his buddies, Williamwallace, Strawberry, Chet Danger, and his wife, to hear their fourth buddy perform downtown in his band, John Hardy and the Public.