The Clouds Have Changed
“I’ve just insulted the macaroni and cheese recipe of a whale! What part of that is not evil?!”
So these are the cartoons my son inherited from his father. The things I never knew…
“DANE IT!” [Dang it.]
“What Puck?”
He had just flown back in the front door from waiting on the front lawn for his friend to bike over. “I FORGOT ALL THE KIDS ARE IN SCHOOL DURING THE DAY!”
Bær reminded him that it was Saturday, and not to say “dang it”, before rumbling up the lawn mower. Puck helped. October skies were threatening rain, the skies only October had.
Scream!
A snake; I would have bet on it.
Puck came running up to the window. “MOM! COME QUICK! LOOK I FOUND IN THE YARD! A GARDENER SNAKE!”
Bingo. Gardener. Later, Theodore wanted to know if the snake knew how to garden; Puck didn’t get it. Bær held it by the tail, black and yellow stripes for Puck to get a good look. I kept my distance. I’m not a screamer – as my son apparently is – but I’m no lover of things that crawl on their stomachs. And I imagine it’s going to stay like that for some time.
“What are you going to name him?” Bær asked.
“Scared Out of People’s Wits!” Puck dubbed with a huge grin.
Puck spent the next half hour walking around the house and yard with my hand mirror pressed up against his nose, enjoying the illusion it created as he walked. He encouraged me to participate in the entertainment, which I did, and agreed with the results. He followed that up by tying a rarely used red napkin around his eyes and practicing to walk blind. I think he would have done alright in the 1700’s.
Puck carved his remaining teeth into a caramel apple; first of the season. Despite Theodore’s, Gloria’s, Bær’s, and sort-of Izzy’s ongoing diets, Gloria covers the rest of us not so interested in harboring steamed radishes and peppered kale.
Rainfall.
Izzy joined the gang, sculpting Legos.
Puck got his Minecraft. As the music serenaded him, he approved to himself…
“I call this song the Good Luck song.”
“Why is that?”
“I don’t know. It just reminds me of good luck.”
“What is good luck?”
“I don’t know.”