Winds & Crickets
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Tuesday night, OLeif and Collette ran around for various reasons. One reason included picking up a bundle of cloth to re-cushion the gliding chair in baby’s room. Collette decided to let OLeif pick out the fabric himself. They came away several minutes later with a wild orange print, which somehow matched everything else that baby would have in his room, including gorillas, monkeys, and other jungle animals.
Collette loved it when there was a chance for showers and thunderstorms every day of the week. They were always the best sorts of days.
Back on the ranch, Rose was busy with her crickets after Collette picked her up from Spanish class.
“Hello, crickets,” she greeted them in the usual Rose manner, upon entering her room.
She tried feeding them popcorn during lunch, which didn’t seem to go over too well.
“They’re just toys to them,” Joe informed her, as the crickets began to crawl over the puffy piece in their jar.
But Rose was convinced that the crickets would eventually eat the popcorn.
Later there was a brief discussion about Dad possibly picking up Krispy Kreme donuts on the way back from Linnea’s choir practice.
“I’ll ask him to get them,” Linnea said, standing on one foot in the living room. “I’ll just put on my cute face.” She grinned.
Little girls had charming ways with their dads. Wasn’t it only the other day that Dad had said to Linnea:
“Don’t grow up, Linnea. Just stay little always.”
The wind came in that afternoon in a fury, pushing clouds across the horizon – it was beautiful.
Dad and Joe took Linnea to choir, where Joe tested out his bike in the general vicinity and he and Dad talked about college plans.
Collette worked on keeping Rose awake during psychology and Francis at the kitchen table performing math problems while Mom napped. Francis had a strange habit of disappearing whenever a math book appeared on the table.
And as the wind continued to blow beyond the open windows and screen door (because Mom could never abide closed doors and windows on beautiful days), Collette continued to work with Rose, who was preoccupied with carving up a rubber ball to use as a stopper for the bottom of her piggy bank.
But the Krispy Kremes were put off for another day. And Collette found herself back home at five o’clock whereupon OLeif soon left for junior high youth and a leaders meeting regarding the youth retreat.