Veteran's Day

Monday, November 12, 2007

The trees were really becoming dark red that week, dark orange, dark yellow, all mixed together. And though they were brilliantly rich in color, it was a sign that they were coming to the end. December was already on its way.

Collette and Puck arrived at the house at their usual time. Puck was immediately escorted around like a little prince.

“I brought him back to Dad,” Rose said. “They’re dancing to Dad’s music.”

“Oh, Dad’s here. I forgot about Veteran’s Day.”

That was all Collette had to say.

“It’s a holiday?” Frances asked quite loudly. “Can we get off school?”

“No school! No school!” Linnea all but chanted from her math book at the dining room table.

Collette was reminded of the Sunday afternoon a year and a half before, when the youth had been caught in the storm of the year.

“Oh, yay, can we get off school tomorrow, Collette?” Rose had asked as they gathered in the church basement to avoid the rain and winds.

“Rose, you try to find any excuse to get off of school for anything,” Ben-Hur had said. “What will it be this time? For ‘Lightening Day’?”

“No school, pleeeeease!” Frances bellowed.

“Only bankers and mailmen get off today,” Collette told him.

“But I’m a ‘vetran’,” Frances protested.

“Are not.”

“A vetran of this house.”

“You’re a vetran of this war,” Rose bellowed, storming into the living room.

For the next few minutes there was a storm of karate chops and flying pillows until Mom called it off.

“Okay, I’m a vetran now,” Frances declared.

But to no avail. Out came the books once again.

First, however, Frances pulled up the Internet to record a list of ingredients and instructions to build smoke grenades. For the rest of the day he asked everyone if they knew where he could find sodium nitrate. Collette also gave him a brief break to launch his purchased smoke grenade in the street in front of the house. As he let it fly, the yard filled with smoke. And, as usual, whenever there was a bonfire, firecrackers, or smoke of any kind originating in the Snicketts’ yard, it steadily drifted toward the neighbor’s house. Soon, a cloud thick of smoke obscured the two-story from Frances’ view as he giggled at the amazing mess he had made.

Rose had escaped the gun smoke to the tree under the pine in the backyard and read while the winds rocked through the trees. Mild weather, flying leaves of deep colors, dark blue-gray clouds, the lawn covered in yellow leaves rustled by rumbling thunder, candles and lamps in the house, Pumpkin snuggled in Linnea’s sweatshirt on the kitchen table. And then the rustling trees grew perfectly still just before the rain came in, rushing past the open windows.

Over lunch of quesadillas and pesto linguine, Carrie-Bri read more of her completed journal to the family. Dad just listened and rolled his eyes occasionally, which always made Carrie laugh and think he was a “cute little daddy”. She had not yet arrived at the part where she had received yet another proposal from a foreigner.

And before Linnea could escape outside with an umbrella, Mom sat her down to finish her studies while Frances daydreamed about OLeif’s cold tea at the counter. The boy loved sweet tea.

While Puck napped to the lull of falling rain, Mom, Collette, and Carrie ran their errands in the gray of the afternoon. This included Office Depot for a wall map for the Snicketts/Black Christmas celebration, where each family would affix push pins to the countries they had visited throughout the years. Then there was a trip to Dairy Queen for a frozen lemonade for Carrie, a caramel Moolaté for Mom, and a box of dilly bars for everyone else to share.

OLeif made it home in time that evening to blow enough raspberries on Puck’s tummy in order to make him become nearly slap-happy before bedtime.

Word had also come in from D.C. that Amanda Snicketts would be getting married the following September at the St. Louis History Museum. Collette could still not picture her step-aunt getting married. CIA marries FBI.

In other news from over the weekend, Diana was dreaming big and applying to the Wall Street Journal sometime after her trip to New York City that weekend. And Augustus had received what was rumored to be a near full-ride to Truman University, beginning the following fall.