Crouton Pie

Which school supply are you?

Just a quick interruption of "what we did last summer" to give an update on our wonderful Stella Rondo Elementary School.  Bronson's sixth grade teacher, Miss Chenille, new this year, is fabulous.  Her web site included not only a detailed list of school supplies to bring on the first day, but a writing assignment as well.  The kids were assigned to write a paragraph with the following creative prompt:  "If I were one of these classroom supplies, I would be..."

Fortunately, after visiting several stores, we were able to find all the supplies.  Then Bronson chose the box of 16 crayons to write about, saying, "there are hundreds of boxes of 8, 24, 64, and 96, but I am that rare box of 16 that has all the colors any sixth grader needs."  Obviously, he feels ready for sixth grade! 

Stella Rondo Elementary is K-6, so Hailey and Bronson are in the same school again, so thankfully during this stressful time Bronson does not need to be ready for a new school.

Hailey has already decided that if she gets the assignment next year she will be a glue stick.  "I go on purple (my favorite color), and then I disappear, but I'm still there."   Amber is our green highlighter, her big green eyes reflecting and amplifying our family's every mood. I am the three-ring binder, with one ring for each child, keeping us together and organized!

The only problem we had was choosing a school supply for Purcell.  Hailey suggested hand sanitizer.  "For someone who caught one of the most contagious diseases anywhere?" said Bronson, both bitter and proud.

Hailey objected that that was unfair.  "As we speak, he is protecting the world from contagious chronic fatigue," she said, sounding much older than a fifth grader.  I decided it was time to serve an early dinner of crouton pie, then cuddle up with the kids and dogs to watch one of our favorite movies, maybe The Five Little Peppers and How they Grew.

Poutine dreams

Another fortunate thing is that while we were still in Canada I realized that Purcell's safety and efficiency consulting business would be put on hold for at least a few months, and naturally no income would be coming in.  Over the walkie talkie and through the more private mode of notes held up to the window, I was able to assure him that we would be fine.  (I did try to suggest that when he gets home he will be wonderfully positioned to add Quarantine Management to his specialties, but he fell asleep every time I brought up that topic.) 

As you can imagine, the whole experience of being suddenly separated from dear Purcell was quite a shock.  And when we got home Bronson had to deal with another, admittedly smaller, loss as well.  Even before we finished unpacking, he started to miss his favorite Canadian food: poutine.  What the dish lacks in healthful qualities, it more than makes up as a comfort food.  So it seemed only natural that when Hailey suggested selling lemonade to earn money, Bronson suggested we cook and sell poutine!  And then we actually got kind of excited about managing on our own...

Camp Nodoze

The disease struck in late May--hence no posts after that, while we got over the shock.  By the time the kids and I got to Canada, Purcell had fallen ill and was quarantined with his parents and another elderly couple, their best friends.  Fortunately, we got to participate in the science fair and almost finish the school year before we left, but those adventures will have to wait for later.

Instead of the long summer visit with the grandparents that we had originally planned, the kids and I stayed in Canada for a short visit only.  The whole quarantine had become quite a media sensation; in fact the news helicopters circling overhead were often so loud that we had to resort to semaphore flags to communicate with the people inside the clubhouse.  Although Bronson had to miss summer camp, I had to tell him that he could really take consolation in that many aspects of our trip were better than any camp could be!

The kids and I kayaked every day on the very water that freezes into an ideal curling surface each winter.  Hailey became an expert at communicating with semaphore flags, which Purcell translated for his parents as they looked out from their beds--another one of my wonderful husband's skills!  Hailey and I predict a resurgence of this wonderful form of communication, which virtually eliminates any type of ecological impact, including noise pollution! The inmates' condition at that point was already improving, because they could stay awake about as long as Hailey could stand to spell out words with the flags while kneeling in a kayak.

Bronson experimented with communicating via smoke signals, until the local authorities very politely said his actions constituted a fire hazard.  After that he had a fabulous time hanging out with the Royal Canadian Mounties, who arrived in force to keep order around the lake.  Many of the visitors to the area were quite wonderful of course, and Hailey learned a buffalo wellness dance from the local shaman who showed up to cast a blessing on the clubhouse.

Wonderful to be awake

Whew!  It took me all summer to get wifi working on the chuck wagon, but here I am at last able to post from my new laptop balanced on a case of frozen buffalo burgers.  Yes, we're still here in Alto Cinco, and in the house my PC is still set up in the bay window looking out on our wonderful neighborhood.  But this summer I did not spend much time there.  I now have a new perch in the chuck wagon, and the great thing about this view is that it actually moves around the neighborhood! 

Our new, mobile mode of life came about because of a dire situation, which most fortunately is working out for the best.  In started in late May, when my dear Purcell traveled to Canada to help his parents, who quite suddenly could not care for themselves. 

Saint John and Ursula Dovecote had been fit and fiddle seniors, who enjoyed outdoor curling in the winter and fly fishing in the summer.  But suddenly Saint and Ursy were falling asleep so often that at first the doctors thought they had developed narcolepsy.  No nursing home would accept the two of them without a diagnosis, and when the answer finally came it was too late.  Purcell and several of Saint and Ursy's friends had already succumbed to the same disease: a rare contagious form of chronic fatigue syndrome.

Admirably, the two elderly dears put themselves under voluntary quarantine in the comfortable lakeside quarters of their curling club.  The brilliant thing was that, unlike their home, it could also accommodate Purcell and their ailing friends.  So it became quite a party in the curling club.  In their few waking moments, the group had La-z-boy recliners and memory foam mattresses brought in, so they could drop off to sleep and be comfortable anywhere at all. 

Speaking of sleep, Amber just woke up from her nap in the only remaining back seat in the eLex, which the kids and I have done a marvelous job of converting to a pantry for our chuck wagon.  So I'll have to write more later on our suburban Little House on the Prairie summer...

Plutonium Blonde

Bronson has had such a wonderful time on the Biohazard Team, I think he's actually disappointed that yesterday they finished their science fair project!  As you may have guessed, when we found out that the team was going to build a Geiger counter, and then test everyday items for traces of radiation, Purcell agreed that it would be not only educational but safe.  He even helped them add a safety awareness component to the project!

The group includes four boys and one girl, who they call Plutonium Blonde.  Bronson says that's what everyone calls her because she likes to blow things up.  She's a slender girl with long blonde hair, who usually wears faded oversized t-shirts and leggings.  Bronson reports that she and her father recently built a model rocket that they engineered to automatically blow up at its maximum height.  He seemed impressed, but mystified.  "Mom, why would you work so hard on a rocket, then blow it up?"  When I didn't reply right away, he supplied his own answer: "It must be a girl thing."

Pink and grey

I forgot to mention Purcell's Mother's Day gift to me.  As usual, he got me a grey sweater and pink scarf.  My wonderful husband knows this is the perfect gift, and that I can never have too many.  They are perfect for committee meetings, taking the kids to school, and so much more.  Particularly if you are known for running around the neighborhood at six a.m. in faded old sweats while playing a Taiko drum, you should take advantage of a grey sweater and pink scarf as the perfect antidote.  Put them on after your shower, and go out and be seen. They are the fashion equivalent of little notebooks--something to keep you sane and organized.  No matter how crazy the rest of your day, you can't go too far off wearing pink and grey. 

Ask me about my canine aromatherapist

By the way, Mothers Day was lovely.  Leila and Poncho got me a wonderful t-shirt that says "Ask Me About My Canine Aromatherapist," which I have worn every day this week for my run with Leila.

Bronson has been busy getting ready for the science fair and with a new hobby, rocketry (more on that later), but he found time to make me a lovely card written on a real snakeskin!  He made the letters dot by dot, using a Sharpie to fill in the indentations made by the scales.  Hailey and Amber brought me breakfast in bed.  Hailey had helped Amber string a necklace of Cheerios, Froot Loops, mini bagels and mini donuts, which I wore like an Elizabethan ruff during my morning run, nibbling as I went.  Surely this should become a trend for car commuters as well, as it would allow plenty of calorie intake with no hands off the wheel except to rotate the necklace. 

Pu plutonium

Unfortunately, Purcell nixed Bronson working with plutonium.  "Plutonium stinks!" said Bronson. 

"I thought you liked it and wanted to work with it," suggested Hailey.

"No one whose father is a safety expert is allowed to like plutonium," said Purcell.

"I just want to be on the team.  We're going to have t-shirts made with the biohazard symbol and everything," Bronson pleaded.

Regrettably, this upset Purcell all the more.  "Biohazard symbols should never be used for sartorial effect!"  he warned.

"I guess you think I should stick a bunch of carnations in colored water to see what colors they turn.  That would be a really exciting project," said Bronson sarcastically. 

I pictured the whole Stella Rondo multipurpose room filled with eerily glowing carnations standing in vases of unnaturally colored water.  In my mind they were interspersed with a few papier-mache volcanoes listlessly spewing red-dyed lava made of baking soda and vinegar, and I knew just what Bronson was feeling.  How could we force him pass up the chance to work on a truly exciting science project?

When I tucked him in, Bronson had calmed down just a little. "Plutonium stinks!  No wonder it's called pu.  I wish I had never mentioned it," he said.  "I just wanted to be part of the team," he added morosely.  He said he didn't even feel like reading with his Itty Bitty Book Lite, but later I looked in and saw him reading a book from the school library about model rockets.  Another science fair idea?

Fortunately, I was able to maintain a positive attitude and this morning called the team mentor.  He said that the group will be building a Geiger counter from a kit.  He mentioned something about testing it at the nuclear power plant where he works, but I can't imagine that there would be anything there to detect!

Pink Patio II

Purcell thought the Baked Alaska was the highlight of Zinnia and Stefano's Iditarod party (Zinnia really is a wonderful cook!), but I preferred Stefano's wonderfully expressive videos of the dog sled race.  He really captured a dog's point of view, even if there were a few too many shots of the shots of canine snouts, bootied paws, traditional mukluks and Gortex-clad ankles. 

Away from the other guests, Zinnia told me that there really had not been much for him to do, which is why he had taken so much video.  Fortunately, he was in such good shape that he actually ran alongside the dogs for the first two days.  She thinks that the musher finally told him to get lost.  The long run alone back to civilization is what really exhausted him.

It was a wonderful early spring night, and the blossoming apricot trees in their yard were so pretty they could have stood in for the Northern Lights!  Stefano seemed a bit subdued and changed by the trip, but perhaps that is just because he got a haircut after returning and no longer has tufts of hair sticking up like a Husky. 

A pondering heart

This week's issue of the Alto Cinco Quill came out today, and our letter to the editor is not in it!

Purcell says to wait and see if it's published in next week's issue before complaining to the editor. 

Interestingly, I saw Zinnia this morning after Stefano ran by pulling their two little girls in one of those yellow-hooded child trailers intended to be pulled by a bike.  (He really is incredibly dedicated to his training!) Zinnia stopped in her shiny white SUV to ask if I had seen them pass by.  I could just glimpse and smell a plate of delectable pain au chocolat on the seat next to her, which she said she was taking to them so the girls could eat breakfast while they were towed along! 

More interesting, when I mentioned Mike Wheelbeck's column she agreed that it was really unfair.   Even on such a gloomy day, she wore her large white sunglasses, so her expression was hard to read.  But she gave a very European shrug and said that she thinks that Wheelbeck has criticized other parties in the past.  "He doesn't like bouncy houses," she said before driving off with the pastries and leaving only a faint whiff of exhaust. 

It truly is winter now, and I could picture their little family, traveling via foot, trailer and car, looking small beneath the evergreens' greenish-black canopies arching over the streets. 

It seems like the trees have soaked up all the rain they can hold.  Their dry leaves and needles fell off many storms ago, and now they can only wait for spring.  Who else is waiting to respond to Mike Wheelbeck?