Treats in the Heat

Monday was sizzling.
“Let’s go to the park before it gets hot,” said Mom.
So they (Mom, Collette, Francis, Linnea, and Puck) piled into the mini van and landed in Faust Park. It was a nice place, preferably not in 96 degree weather. Francis zoomed Puck around the grounds in his stroller. Puck’s wispy blond hair flew back in the wind, his chubby shiny face smiling happily. Aside from the Butterfly House and the Carousel, there was also the community music school buried back in the ivy-wound trees – an old Spanish house with odd angles, tall smoothed adobe walls, and a large black lantern above the door. After walking through the little gardens around the historical houses, they left for Trader Joe’s.
“Enough heat for one day,” said Mom.
Trader Joe’s was cool inside. Linnea picked out fun food for later in the week while spending the night: macaroni and cheese and homemade pizza. Then they got a block of sharp white cheddar to grate in Mom’s new salad grater to add to black refried beans in mini wheat pitas for lunch. Then a small peppermint cheesecake to split.
“Ananas?” Puck asked.
Collette looked to where he was pointing – the long bright yellow line of banana bunches in the produce section. She couldn’t resist, and handed a small bunch of organic bananas to her chubby baby. He and Linnea shared one of them on the way home.
That evening, the sun split through the haze, a glowing orange star over the river valley. Collette and Carrie took a brief jaunt to the mall for jeans. On the way back, Collette picked up three boxes of movie candy and they joined Mom, Francis, and Linnea (who was just back from a night swim with Amelia) to watch Nacho Libre.
As they finally all hit the hay at 11:00 (Puck having been snoozing soundly in Mom’s and Dad’s closet since 6:30), lightening lit up the heavens. Collette heard the roll of thunder through her dreams throughout the night.