The Opiate of the Masses
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
In news of the day, the rather unusually optimistic radio announcer, at 5:45am, was talking about Venus and a moon that could be seen in the early morning sky (that was rarely seen), or something along similar lines. There were no storms or inclement weather for him to complain about that time around.
And Wallace had passed his District Board of Review as well, Monday night, to make picnic tables for the church (or perhaps it was benches). Collette wondered if there would be another swarm of Scouts on the property that day while she worked (as she had been called in to manage things while the staff discussed the church calendar for the rest of the year). Hopefully the troop would bring their own lunch and not attempt to request a slice or two (or twenty) of the pizza which was due to come to the staff as an incentive to get through the day.
In the end, however, the scouts were not to show up that day, as a home schooled church picnic took precedence elsewhere, attended by several of the scouts. And the whole day was spent at Collette’s desk, listening to snatches of the staff calendar planning meeting from down the hall over pizzas and salads in the conference room. Days at the church office were rarely exciting, but Collette supposed that it was probably a good thing.
Although the fall was going to be a whirlwind of craziness, beginning with the new concept of Wednesday night church dinners and activities. Collette decided that the offering of food, of any kind, even if it cost, was enough to lure the masses to any event, particularly in America. Mexican, pizza, Italian, fried chicken, sushi… (well, maybe not the sushi), they would come running, even more so if dessert was included free. And so Collette anticipated finding herself with the rest of the crowds every Wednesday night, supervising the chaos of the fifteen junior high students, whether they happened to be involved in pillow fights, giggling over boys, slurping and discarding diet Coke cans, or causing general mayhem for no particularly good reason.
Meanwhile, Ivy would be off to the white peaks of the Rockies in a matter of two and a half weeks for much-deserved relaxation and exploration thousands of feet above sea level. And Colorado was sounding pretty good to Collette as well.
Collette was pleased to see the day end at 4:30, after Ivy dropped her off at the apartment (where OLeif had already arrived, having felt ill earlier in the day from paint fumes (building remodeling at work)), to make pasta salad in the slow-ending summer evening.
Latest Sibling of Wallace and/or Wallace IM messages:
“Your mom drinks pasteurized milk”
and
“I’M IN LOVE WITH BIG BIRD!”