The Balloon Glow
Over at the house, in the chill morning, past the fields of mist and white flowering bush under spray of gold sun…
OLeif carpooled with Rose.
Mom and Linnea departed to pick up Francis at Steak ‘n Shake from the men’s Bible study.
And Collette’s laptop was still on the fritz; Joe generously donated the use of his own for the early weekend.
At breakfast, Puck was busy with an assortment of foods. “It makes my heart go bibbly bobbly down in my tummy when I eat cornflakes,” he said.
Then Puck continued on in his perpetual wrestling match with Francis.
Joe sang along rather indecorously out of tune to the recording of the home school choir’s adaptation of Pie Jesu.
He also had presented Mom with a gift that he had picked up (while out with Grandma to lunch at Malone’s Grill and Pub for pretzel burgers)… from K-Mart: a pump of orange hand soap with a button that presented the hand washer with the general sound effects of Hallowe’en. It was a big hit.
And Francis sharpened the end of a paintbrush with a steel pencil sharpener until it was time to begin math.
Mid-morning, Mom was off to sign up Linnea-Irish for basketball practice at the same Baptist church, where several years earlier, they had attended a Jars of Clay concert. And Collette, arriving somewhat late, and not being able to recognize the band members if she saw them walking down the street… did, in fact, see the band walk through the silent foyer as she hurried quickly by them… hardly noticing. Later, she recalled how they had sort of looked at her, surprised, as if thinking, “How does this girl not know who we are?”
In the afternoon, Puck was busy hustling in the front yard with a baby-sized pigskin. Toss down the slope of the short hill, run down, run back, kick down the hill, run down, run back. He entertained himself with this exercise for a time, until he remembered the strawberries in the fridge.
There was also a summons to the go-cart before his nap.
“Puck, catch up with Uncle Francis,” Collette told him, as he rushed outside in his gym pants and flip-flops. “And tell Lila I need her to come inside.”
Puck raced out the door yelling as he ran, “Lila! Mama ‘eeds you!”
As Collette worked with Linnea on her math, she occasionally saw Francis and Puck fly past the window on the street, Puck peddling like a madman on his trike, and Francis pushing him from behind with a six-foot pole. It was almost as if Francis was Puck’s very own personal Hobbes.
And to Forest Park. Once Magnus had joined them, ‘them’ being: Mom, Collette, Joe, Francis, Linnea-Irish, and Puck… (Dad was to be home, and Carrie-Bri with Lucia downtown…), then to pick up Kentucky Fried Chicken, fuel up the car while Magnus went inside for a pack of green apple-golden pineapple Trident layers… and off again.
Good timing and Joe-driving brought them to The Muny parking lot before five o’clock and under a shade tree, where Joe and Francis, who were looking more and more like twins lately (particularly when wearing their Oakleys) immediately took up the Frisbee with Puck participating, Magnus to his sketchbook, and the girls to unpacking the food.
Then Mom and Magnus began pointing out the various carnival foods they could detect in the air. Funnel cake, kettle corn…
“Corn dogs!” Magnus exclaimed. “That is definitely a corn dogs! I can at least go look at them.”
And he hurried up the hill.
Meanwhile, it did not take Puck long to notice several thin PVC pipes sticking up in certain parts of the green. He amused himself, quite merrily for some time, swinging himself around them, rocking them back and forth, until scolded for doing so by his mama, and practically dancing around them.
“Gene Kelly,” Magnus noted. “He’s singin’ in the rain.”
Then, as OLeif and Rose arrived, Puck began hurtling pine cones, until told not to, then watched as Francis tossed his mini soccer ball back and forth with OLeif until it landed on someone else’s picnic blanket. And Linnea was practicing back handsprings and attempting to juggle pine cones. From the other side of the road on the other thin green, a group of bagpipers buzzed out various sets of melodies, including Star Wars themes and military theme songs, occasionally blurting out the notes of a dying duck… It was, more or less, a sort of circus.
Then began the glow. Early, as the light of the sun had only just gone behind the hill. But not too early for the buzzing crowd of city dwellers, visitors from Illinois, foreigners, students, etc., etc. The orbs puffed up in all their faded glory of colors. And the bagpipers piped and drummed on the baseball diamond, where Puck tossed several handfuls of the dust, until the dim set in. And with the wail of foghorn, all the balloons lit at once. There was something fascinating about standing in the middle of such enormous lanterns. Puck seemed either enthralled or dazed with the whole experience. And after an hour of watching the great lights, they headed back across the darkness peppered with all sorts of light sabers and glow sticks, snapping in bright lights.
Once back in the car in the sizable traffic leaving the park, horns blared a couple of times in frustration.
“I should put a foghorn in my car some day,” said Francis.
Then he speculated on things he could drop from planes over the whole ballooning event.
“Thumbtacks,” he said with a wicked grin.
“Thumbtack promotion gone horribly wrong!” OLeif read the imaginary headline.
Then Francis contemplated other important things. “My feet smell like pancakes,” he said. “Outside for a year or so, with the rain and snow and stuff…”
Back at the house for car exchange, and Rose, Magnus, and Joe were busy starting their movie in the basement. Then it was back home after ten o’clock for the OLeif tribe.
OLeif carpooled with Rose.
Mom and Linnea departed to pick up Francis at Steak ‘n Shake from the men’s Bible study.
And Collette’s laptop was still on the fritz; Joe generously donated the use of his own for the early weekend.
At breakfast, Puck was busy with an assortment of foods. “It makes my heart go bibbly bobbly down in my tummy when I eat cornflakes,” he said.
Then Puck continued on in his perpetual wrestling match with Francis.
Joe sang along rather indecorously out of tune to the recording of the home school choir’s adaptation of Pie Jesu.
He also had presented Mom with a gift that he had picked up (while out with Grandma to lunch at Malone’s Grill and Pub for pretzel burgers)… from K-Mart: a pump of orange hand soap with a button that presented the hand washer with the general sound effects of Hallowe’en. It was a big hit.
And Francis sharpened the end of a paintbrush with a steel pencil sharpener until it was time to begin math.
Mid-morning, Mom was off to sign up Linnea-Irish for basketball practice at the same Baptist church, where several years earlier, they had attended a Jars of Clay concert. And Collette, arriving somewhat late, and not being able to recognize the band members if she saw them walking down the street… did, in fact, see the band walk through the silent foyer as she hurried quickly by them… hardly noticing. Later, she recalled how they had sort of looked at her, surprised, as if thinking, “How does this girl not know who we are?”
In the afternoon, Puck was busy hustling in the front yard with a baby-sized pigskin. Toss down the slope of the short hill, run down, run back, kick down the hill, run down, run back. He entertained himself with this exercise for a time, until he remembered the strawberries in the fridge.
There was also a summons to the go-cart before his nap.
“Puck, catch up with Uncle Francis,” Collette told him, as he rushed outside in his gym pants and flip-flops. “And tell Lila I need her to come inside.”
Puck raced out the door yelling as he ran, “Lila! Mama ‘eeds you!”
As Collette worked with Linnea on her math, she occasionally saw Francis and Puck fly past the window on the street, Puck peddling like a madman on his trike, and Francis pushing him from behind with a six-foot pole. It was almost as if Francis was Puck’s very own personal Hobbes.
And to Forest Park. Once Magnus had joined them, ‘them’ being: Mom, Collette, Joe, Francis, Linnea-Irish, and Puck… (Dad was to be home, and Carrie-Bri with Lucia downtown…), then to pick up Kentucky Fried Chicken, fuel up the car while Magnus went inside for a pack of green apple-golden pineapple Trident layers… and off again.
Good timing and Joe-driving brought them to The Muny parking lot before five o’clock and under a shade tree, where Joe and Francis, who were looking more and more like twins lately (particularly when wearing their Oakleys) immediately took up the Frisbee with Puck participating, Magnus to his sketchbook, and the girls to unpacking the food.
Then Mom and Magnus began pointing out the various carnival foods they could detect in the air. Funnel cake, kettle corn…
“Corn dogs!” Magnus exclaimed. “That is definitely a corn dogs! I can at least go look at them.”
And he hurried up the hill.
Meanwhile, it did not take Puck long to notice several thin PVC pipes sticking up in certain parts of the green. He amused himself, quite merrily for some time, swinging himself around them, rocking them back and forth, until scolded for doing so by his mama, and practically dancing around them.
“Gene Kelly,” Magnus noted. “He’s singin’ in the rain.”
Then, as OLeif and Rose arrived, Puck began hurtling pine cones, until told not to, then watched as Francis tossed his mini soccer ball back and forth with OLeif until it landed on someone else’s picnic blanket. And Linnea was practicing back handsprings and attempting to juggle pine cones. From the other side of the road on the other thin green, a group of bagpipers buzzed out various sets of melodies, including Star Wars themes and military theme songs, occasionally blurting out the notes of a dying duck… It was, more or less, a sort of circus.
Then began the glow. Early, as the light of the sun had only just gone behind the hill. But not too early for the buzzing crowd of city dwellers, visitors from Illinois, foreigners, students, etc., etc. The orbs puffed up in all their faded glory of colors. And the bagpipers piped and drummed on the baseball diamond, where Puck tossed several handfuls of the dust, until the dim set in. And with the wail of foghorn, all the balloons lit at once. There was something fascinating about standing in the middle of such enormous lanterns. Puck seemed either enthralled or dazed with the whole experience. And after an hour of watching the great lights, they headed back across the darkness peppered with all sorts of light sabers and glow sticks, snapping in bright lights.
Once back in the car in the sizable traffic leaving the park, horns blared a couple of times in frustration.
“I should put a foghorn in my car some day,” said Francis.
Then he speculated on things he could drop from planes over the whole ballooning event.
“Thumbtacks,” he said with a wicked grin.
“Thumbtack promotion gone horribly wrong!” OLeif read the imaginary headline.
Then Francis contemplated other important things. “My feet smell like pancakes,” he said. “Outside for a year or so, with the rain and snow and stuff…”
Back at the house for car exchange, and Rose, Magnus, and Joe were busy starting their movie in the basement. Then it was back home after ten o’clock for the OLeif tribe.