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Morningstar: Chapter 10: Fire
Monday morning
started like any other school day. My
alarm went off, I grabbed my things and headed to the bathroom, wanting to get
there before T.J. As soon as I entered
the living room, my dad, who was sitting in his chair reading the morning
paper, put it down and just looked at me for what seemed like the longest
time. I remember getting a chill from
his extended solemn stare.
Finally, I asked,
“dad, is there something wrong?”
“Come sit down
Anna,” he motioned to the couch next to his chair. “I’m really sorry, I have really bad news.”
The tone of his
voice caused my heart to sink. “What is
it dad?” I asked with dread and foreboding.
My dad had the
paper folded open, and as I sat down, he handed it to me. I knew in an instant what had happened. The article was titled; “Local Artist Dies in
House Fire.” I immediately felt
incredible anxiety welling up inside. My
head was spinning. My heart was pounding,
and I was gasping for breath. At the
same time, I felt an enormous loss. I was angry and confused. I knew this had to be Charlie, that is the
only reason my dad would have given me this article. Why was I so upset? I barely knew Charlie. I had only met him once and still, for some
reason, I felt as horrible as I did when I lost my grandmother five years
before. Was it because of the movie I
just watched? I wanted to run, to scream
and be alone; but, holding back the tears, I continued reading. “Local Artist, Charlie Blackeagle died in a
house fire last night. An unnamed
unofficial source said it looked like a typical chimney fire, but arson had not
been ruled out.” The rest of the article
was unimportant. What was this about arson?
Was Charlie murdered? Was I reading
too much into this? A terrible feeling
of darkness enveloped me.
As I looked up, my
dad was reaching to put his hand on my shoulder, as he said softly; “I’m so
sorry honey.”
I didn’t want to be
touched. Didn’t want to be with
anyone. I threw the paper down, ran to
my bedroom, slammed the door, and fell sobbing on my bed. My mom and dad were good enough to let me
have my space. They knew, or at least
one of them knew I needed to be alone.
After a while, my
feelings started to change. I wondered;
if I was feeling this bad, what was Amanda feeling? I stopped crying enough to call, and picking
up the phone by my bed, dialed her number.
It was busy. Of course, it was
busy. I waited a while and tried
again. Still busy. I tried one more time and it was still
busy. I threw some clothes on and went
to find my dad, who to my astonishment, was sitting in his chair with his boots
on and his coat laying on the couch, like he was waiting to take me someplace.
“Dad, would you
take me to Amanda’s?”
“Yeah, I thought
you might want to go.”
Surprised, I
grabbed my coat and put my boots on and said, “Thanks.”
We didn’t say a
word as we drove to Amanda’s. There were
already a few extra cars when we arrived.
My dad walked up to the house, introduced himself to Amanda’s mom and
dad, and told them how sorry he was. I
then introduced myself and asked if I could see Amanda.
Amanda’s mother,
Stephanie, said; “yes, please come in.
It was good of you to come.
She’ll be glad to see you. Do you
want to come in Mr. Turner?”
My dad just
replied, “no, … no, I’d just be in the way.
I just wanted to tell you how sorry I am and drop Anna off. I’ll come and get Anna when she calls. … I am
really sorry about your loss.”
Stephanie then put
her arm around me, I really didn’t want it there but didn’t want to be rude
either. She led me into the living room
where Amanda was sitting next to an older person who had her arm around Amanda
as she sobbed. As I got closer, Amanda
looked up and ran to me, throwing her arms around me as I threw my arms around
her and we both cried.
I just blubbered;
“I’m so, so, so, sorry,” over and over.
Through her tears
she finally looked up, and just looked at me and said, “thank you.”
We just continued
to hold each other for a while and then D’Lisa came in and hugged and cried
with Amanda. Then Beth and Jason came
in. Beth grabbed Amanda first and hugged
her, then Jason reached out and hugged Amanda.
I could hear him say how sorry he was.
It was really getting crowded in the living room and we finally all went
into the kitchen. The four of us girls
then hugged and cried some more. Jason
was mostly quiet and patient, sitting at the table across from Amanda, with his
hand reaching across the table, holding Amanda’s hand as the rest of us talked
and Jason listened.
Someone brought
some food over, but none of us felt like eating. By evening the family had already arranged
for the funeral on Wednesday. We hugged
and cried a little more and said goodbye.
Jason took both me and D’Lisa home.
My parents were both great. They
gave me a hug, which I was ready for now, and told me how sorry they were. They told me they understood if I didn’t want
to go back to school for a few days and left me alone. That was what I wanted, and think I needed
most. I went almost straight to bed and
lay awake most of the night thinking about Charlie, my life, my grandmother, my
family, and everything that had happened since moving to Logan.
On Tuesday I would
learn that an envelope had come for me while I was at Amanda’s. I’m glad my dad didn’t tell me until
Tuesday. I don’t think I could have handled
both the news about Charlie’s death and the package on the same day.
Morningstar: Chapter 9: The Earthling
Chapter 9: The Earthling
The next week went
really well, and pretty fast. Bekah and
her group were doing a good job of getting some kids to act like I was toxic; but
no big deal. Amanda, Beth, D’Lisa, and
some of their friends were great. Tom
seemed to be hitting on Amanda about every chance he could get. Amanda was nice about it; but didn’t act too
interested. I was on top of my classes
and getting A’s in everything and had started helping Amanda with a couple of
hers. I hadn’t forgotten about the
investigation. It just didn’t seem so
important. I was actually, kind-of
enjoying life.
Friday after school
came pretty quick and my parents had promised to keep T.J. out of the den and
let me buy lots of sleep-over food. The
kind of stuff you regret eating the next day.
Dad picked me up and took me to the video store to get the movie. Mom wasn’t home yet so we had to take T.J. The movie was only on VHS, but that was
ok. The lady at the store said she had
seen it twenty or thirty years ago. She
said it was ok, thought it made her cry and she recommended tissues. I wasn’t the crying type, but someone else
might be, so I planned to grab some tissues when we got home and put them in
the den. Mom was home when we got back
and the two of us got all the snacks and drinks ready. I knew Beth would bring something and
probably Amanda, maybe D’Lisa too. We’d
have enough to make us sick. The carpet
was being replaced anyway, so we could just spread everything out on the floor
without worrying about spills. I was
looking forward to a great night, with good friends. Some school dance was going on that same
night. This was going to be our
anti-dance party.
“Thanks Mom,” I
gave my mom a little hug while she was helping me.
A little surprised,
she answered, “you’re welcome. I like to
do things like this with you. I’m glad you’re having friends over. It will be nice to finally meet everyone. …
Don’t worry, I’ll get out of your hair as soon as we’ve all met.”
That prompted another,
“Thanks mom,” and an even bigger hug from me.
While mom and I
worked together. Dad and T.J. were
taking all the paint stuff out of the living room. There was still tons to do in the house, but
the living room was painted and all the plastic, brushes, and empty paint cans,
were being taken to the shed. Dad had
spent some late nights getting it done by tonight. I hadn’t really thought about it; but all the
sudden realized how much he had sacrificed for me this week just to get it
finished. It wasn’t just painting, there
were tons of holes in the wall that had to be fixed. I had no idea how much time he spent; but it
looked really nice except for the old carpet.
All the sudden I had another unexpected urge and ran over and gave my
dad a big hug. “Thanks dad.”
“You’re welcome
Anna,” he responded as he hugged me and kissed my forehead.
I even turned to
T.J. and said; “thanks T.J. and gave him a hug.”
“Welcome,” stuttered
T.J. in astonishment.
Mom and I got
everything set up in the den and some good music going. I already had my room ready. Everything was set. Soon after, I heard the first knock at the
door. It was Beth with a big container
of something I was sure either she or her mom made. She was alone but with the motion detector
flood light on, I could see the van outside, and another car.
“What’s going on?”
I asked as I nodded my head towards the street.
“Oh, we got here
the same time Amanda and D’Lisa did.
Jason drove me and now he’s meeting Amanda’s mom. Amanda and D’Lisa will be right in… I
think. Well, at least D‘Lisa will. If Jason and Amanda really get talking,
D‘Lisa will just come in on her own. She’s not shy ya know.” Beth said with a grin.
“Yeah, I know,” I
kind of laughed as I was thinking about D’Lisa.
After a few more
minutes there was a knock on the door.
It was D’Lisa… by herself. She
immediately grabbed me and gave me a big hug and said in a cheery voice; “Hi
Anna.”
I’m not really a
huggy person, which was one of the reasons mom, dad, and T.J., were so
surprised. I just kind of patted D’Lisa
on the back and replied; “Hi D’Lisa.”
D’Lisa then went
for Beth and grabbed her. Beth was a
better hugger than me and she returned a nice big hug to D’Lisa.
“Hi D’Lisa!”
“Hi Beth!”
D’Lisa then let go
of Beth and headed right for my dad. I
thought ‘oh no, she’s going to hug my dad
too;’ but, she didn’t.
She held out her
hand and enthusiastically said; “Hi Mr. Turner, I’m D’Lisa.”
“Nice to meet you
D’Lisa,” my dad responded happily as they shook hands.
My mom then walked
in the room and D’Lisa did the same thing with my mom, followed by Beth, who
also introduced herself to both my parents, but in a more reserved,
conventional fashion.
My mom then said;
“have fun girls,” and both my parents left the living room. My dad came right back and introduced T.J. to
D’Lisa and Beth and then, they both left for the night.
“Maybe you’d better
go chase your brother away so we can get started,” said D’Lisa rather
matter-of-factly to Beth.
“I think I will!”
she replied laughing, as she walked back to the door, opened it and yelled, “Jason,
don’t you have something to do at home?”
Looking through the
window, I could see Amanda’s mom had already driven away. Jason was leaning against the back of the van
with his arms crossed, looking down at Amanda.
She was just a few inches away, looking up at him. I couldn’t see her face, but even in the dim
light I could see Jason wearing that grin of his. As soon as he heard Beth, he looked up, and
then at his watch. From where I was, it
looked like he then grabbed Amanda’s hand for a couple of seconds and they both
turned around, Amanda towards the house and Jason towards the other side of the
van. Beth held the door open, as Amanda
entered and walked right over to D’Lisa.
“Was that YOUR idea
miss D’Lisa?” Amanda asked with her hands on her hips. She was trying, but not doing a very good job
of looking mad.
D’Lisa then assumed
the same pose and matter-of-factly said; “yes, it was, miss Amanda! It’s about time you got in here.” Then D’’Lisa just grabbed Amanda, gave her a
hug and said, let’s get this party going.
“OK, let me show
you where everything is. Follow me.
… First the bathroom.” I started to walk into the kitchen and
pointed to a room off the kitchen. “This
is a strange house and that’s where the bathroom is.” I then led them back into the living room and
then into the den. “This is where the
party will be and we’ll sleep on my bed and the couch.” I pointed towards the open door to my
room. “Most of the food is already out, I’ll
get the drinks. Amanda, do you want to
help me?”
“Sure,” replied
Amanda as we both walked out of the den towards the kitchen.
I then grabbed her
arm and whispered; “are you and Jason dating?”
“Not really. He’s not allowed to date anyone under 16 and
I’m not allowed to date till I’m 16. Our
first official date is already planned and will be on my birthday, September 2nd. It’ll still be kind of a group date because
my dad’s not going to let me have a birthday without him. Probably won’t till I’m 40 or 50. That’s ok, I’m a patient woman,” she beamed
as she responded.
“That’s crazy, not
till you’re 16?”
“No, I don’t mind,
like I said, I’m patient. Watching my
parents and other people I knew, I decided a long time ago that relationships
are a lot like making jello, if you rush too much, they can dissolve pretty
easy. Besides the best things, really,
are worth waiting for. My parents,
especially my mom, rushed things. I want
things to be different for me.”
We grabbed a bunch
of cans of soda and some bottles of juice and headed back to the den where
D’Lisa and Beth were already deep in conversation about something. It looked like Amanda had brought a couple
big bags of candy and D’Lisa a couple bags of chips. ‘We’ll
be sick tomorrow, but who cares,’ I thought to myself.
“Let’s start with
the movie first. If it’s really horrible
we can stop it early.”
“If it’s good, then maybe it’ll give us something else to talk
about,” responded Beth.
“Ok, the lady at
the video store said we might need tissue, and there they are.” I pointed to a
box of tissue on the floor, then grabbed the remote and sat on the floor in the
middle of my friends.
We could tell the
movie was pretty old, some parts were kind of lame; but it was ok. We all wondered and talked a little about why
Charlie would want me to watch it. The
old lady was kind of funny. When the
kid’s parents died, Amanda grabbed the tissue.
We talked a little about how mean the old man was. Beth thought it was the only way the old man
could help the kid survive. She pointed
out that he had already let the horse go and there wasn’t enough time to take
the kid back to town. I wasn’t buying it
and I didn’t think D’Lisa was either.
Basically, the movie was about an old man who went back to where
he grew up to die. He had cancer and
didn’t have long to live. While he was
traveling to his boyhood home out in the middle of nowhere, he witnessed the
accidental death of the parents of a young boy now orphaned, helpless, and
alone. He didn’t think he could do much
to help the boy at first but they both ended up learning something from each
other, and the boy at least had a chance to survive, and even make it out of
the outback alive, or that’s the impression the movie left with us.
When the old man
died, I could see the tears flowing from both Amanda and Beth and just a little
from D’Lisa. Maybe I’m a little more
jaded. I still thought the old man was
pretty mean; but I did kind of feel bad for the boy who had to make it back to
civilization, alone. I guess I related
more to the boy, I’d felt alone a lot in my life, even though I had lots of
kids who had wanted to be my friends back in California, there wasn’t anyone I
really felt close to, no one that I could really trust. I then remembered how I felt when my parent’s
business went bad. I blamed them and
didn’t think I could even trust them for a while, but that was all me. They were just doing what they could and had
to do. I still didn’t totally understand,
but I think they did the best they could, and unfortunately without much
support from me. I wondered if they ever
felt alone.
After the tears
stopped, D’Lisa asked; “could any of you eat stuff like that?”
“I’ve eaten a lot
of stuff like that,” said Beth. “My mom
and dad both took a survival course in college.
That’s where they met. Whenever
we go camping my mom and dad look on the internet for something edible that
they might find wherever we’re going then we try it if they can find it. I’ve eaten all kinds of strange things. Didn’t always like it; but I’ve tried
it. Jason loves Man vs. Wild and watches
it all the time. He wants to be special
forces.”
“I’ve eaten lots of
different things too,” said Amanda. “When
we lived with my grandma, we ate a lot of traditional Shoshone food. Pine nuts, biscuit root, … sort of tastes
like potatoes, rice grass, rose hips, I love antelope. Roots and eel, and lots of different kinds of
fish and lots of berries. My dad said
they used to get tons of berries every year, but the federal government blocked
a lot of the old roads and it’s hard to get to a lot of the best berry patches
any more. I think I liked most of the
food we ate at my grandma’s; but we don‘t eat it any more. My mom didn’t really like it, so we never eat
it except once in a while at relatives.”
I was really
surprised and said; “I think I’d die before I’d eat a bug and there’s no way
I’d catch fish with my hands.”
“Gross! Me too!”
Said D’Lisa, “There’s no way anybody could get me to eat any of that
stuff. I don’t even think I’d eat
rabbit!”
We talked a little
more about survival and then the conversation somehow changed to death. Amanda, Beth and D’Lisa all believe in life
after death and thought they’d be with people they loved again. Me, I’m not so sure.
~
Beth, speaking
quietly continued, “my mom’s parents, grandma and grandpa Flanagan, live in Reno.
We see them three or four times a
year. We’re close, but not near as close
as I am to my dad’s parents. Some
summers we practically lived with grandma and grandpa Teeples. I was really sad when my grandma Teeples
died. When all the family got together
for the funeral, it just felt good to be connected to everyone. It’s kind of weird; but I think I felt closer
to my family, even my grandma, after she died.
I think the hardest part was seeing how lonely my grandpa was.”
After a pause, I
interjected; “it wasn’t like that for me.
My grandmother was the only grandparent I ever really knew. I had a grandfather who was still alive when
I was born, but I don’t remember him. My
grandmother was incredible. We used to
cook together, have teas, and just lots of fun.
I knew she loved me; but, when she died, all I felt was lost and
alone. Life seemed totally out of
control. I think I decided I had to
control other people to make up for the loss of control I felt.” I paused and thought for a few seconds then
said; “Wow! I can’t believe I just said that.
I don’t even know if I’d ever even thought it before tonight. … Ya know,
I don’t think I’ve ever felt safe enough to talk to anyone about stuff like
this since my grandmother died.”
No one said
anything for a while. Beth and Amanda
were each sitting on one side of me and put an arm around me, giving me a big
hug. D’Lisa reached over and gave my
hand a squeeze. I felt especially close
to Amanda; but for some reason, even close to Beth, at least close enough to
feel safe and trust her. I was good with
D’Lisa too; but didn’t really know her all that well yet.
We didn’t play any
games that night and didn’t get much sleep, just talked about things. All kinds of things. After a while the conversation lightened up
and we were all laughing a lot and crying a little. It was just nice. Really nice.
I was happy. REALLY happy.
~
Both Charlie and
Tye were in my dreams that night. Charlie was in the den, he was younger, but still
had his prosthetic leg. He looked
miserably sad, and just said; ‘I’m sorry
you have to go through this.’ It
really disturbed me. I then saw the 17-year-old
Tye at the doorway of my bedroom. It was
the first time he had been there. I
could see him clearly except for his face, which was somehow darkened in a
shadow. It was easy to see his
beautifully clear skin and toned physique; but unsettling that I was still
unable to clearly see his face. It was
the first time I registered, or maybe just the first time I remembered his soft
baritone voice. As he spoke this time,
there was almost a teasing quality to his speech.
‘Why are you in my room?’ I asked. ‘I’m not
supposed to have boys in here.’ He
chuckled and responded, ‘Technically I’m not
in your room. I’ll leave; but we’re
not alone, your friends are here with us.
Besides. This was my room.’
Morningstar: Chapter 8: The Cabin
My alarm went off at 6:
A.M. ugg!! I couldn’t believe I agreed
to be picked up at 6:30 on a Saturday morning.
Beth and Amanda wanted to pick me up at 5: A.M. I got the impression this sort of thing was
normal for Beth, but I knew Amanda had no idea what five o’clock in the morning
even looked like, on any day, let alone a Saturday. (I thought 8: A.M. a reasonable time.) We compromised, on my being picked up at 6:30
and Amanda at about 6:15. I understood
Amanda’s motivation. The earlier, and
the longer the day, the better.
In-spite of my
ambivalent feelings about the Teeples, my absolute loathing of snow and cold,
and this indecent and ridiculous hour, I was in a pretty good mood. I really don’t know why, but I was open to
the possibility I might actually have some fun.
I won’t go so far as to say I was looking forward to it, but I wasn’t
dreading it either. My mom had loaned me
some old ski pants she hadn’t worn in years and a waterproof jacket to go over
my sweater and matching gloves and a matching beanie. Dad told me to wear an extra pair of socks,
no argument on that one, I hated cold feet.
I was sure Amanda
had been primping since at least 5: A.M., but then I didn’t have anyone I was
trying to impress. Thirty minutes was
all I needed.
About 6:25 I heard
a quick beep out front and headed for the door.
My dad was already in the living room preparing the wall for painting.
“Bye dad, have a
great day.”
“Bye Anna, have fun
and be careful. See you around eight?”
“Yeah, that’s what they
said. We’ll eat up there so no worries
about dinner,” and out I went, for my first major winter experience.
Jason was driving a
blue minivan with Beth in the front seat and Amanda right behind Beth. As soon as I opened the door of the house to
leave, Amanda got out of the van to let me in.
I just figured she wanted to be able to keep a better eye on Jason.
“Hi Anna,” Amanda
said brightly as I walked up to the van.
“Good morning
Amanda,” I replied with about as much energy and enthusiasm I could muster this
early in the morning.
Beth and Jason both
seemed in especially good moods. The
radio was on and Beth was actually singing and bouncing in her chair. I’d never seen Beth so animated and excited;
but then, I really didn’t know her.
Maybe this was how she was most of the time. Jason was the first to say something once I
was in the van. “Hi Anna, you are going
to have so much fun today. We’ve got
lots of great food. Fruit and muffins,
my mom made for breakfast. Then we’ll be
snowmobiling all morning. For lunch, my
grandpa’s five alarm chili. More
snowmobiling this afternoon, or if you guys want, there’s a great tubing hill,
and we can do that, or we can go snowshoeing this afternoon. Up to the three of you. Tonight, we’ve got hotdogs with all the
fixings you can imagine, including left over chili I’m sure, plus smores and
hot chocolate.”
Beth then jumped in
really excited; “oh… my… gosh, we are going to have so much fun. Grandpa leaves some hay out for deer and
usually there’s a few there when we drive in. As soon as we start the snowmobiles they’ll be
gone, but it’s nice to see them for a little while. This year has been colder than usual so
grandpa gets Jason, my dad, or my uncle, to take him up a couple times a week
to get some hay out. He and my dad went yesterday,
so there should be some hay left and we should see the deer. Deer don’t do well on hay alone so he leaves
some grain and other food they can munch on too. Grandpa lost an eye in an accident a few
years ago and the other eye doesn’t work so well, did I already tell you
that? Anyway, he’ll drive if he has to,
but we usually drive him around.” As we drove,
I dozed a little; but think I got the gist of most of the conversation. From what I heard, Beth talked about the
cabin and things their family liked to do most during the trip out to her
grandfather’s house. Amanda hardly said
anything, mostly just looked at Jason, once in a while glancing at Beth and
saying uh huh. I started to wake up a
little more once we turned into a long, bumpy driveway; but what really woke me
up was one of the most horrible stenches I had ever experienced.
“What is that
smell?” I asked.
As soon as I asked
the question Jason let out a big laugh, and answered, “that’s the smell of
money, around here. This is pretty-mild. Some time I’ll have to take you out to some
of the big dairies. If you grow up
around it, it’s a wonderful, sweet smell, but if you’re not used to it, I guess
it can be pretty bad.” Personally, I was
glad my sense of smell wasn’t so warped that this could smell anything but
horrible.
“This is our
grandpa’s place,” explained Jason as we drove up to an old farmhouse. “Our grandma and grandpa used to have a small
dairy. Grandpa got rid of most of the
cows when grandma got Alzheimer’s. It
was too much, keeping an eye on grandma and a herd of cows. He still has a couple that he milks. I think it costs him more than it’s worth,
but he likes to keep busy and loves the cows.
There’s a couple of horses, an old dog and about 40 million cats. They probably drink most of the milk. Oh, plus grandpa. That’s it for the farm anymore, except for
when some of us kids or our cousins sleep over.
That happens a lot in the summer.
We all like to visit grandpa, help with what’s left of the farm and ride
the horses.” I could see a couple old
barns and fences but couldn’t see any of the animals except a few cats. Grandpa Teeples came out the door as we drove
up. He was kind of bent over a little
and walked slowly and deliberately with a cane.
Beth and Jason
immediately got out of the van. Beth ran
to her grandfather and gave him a big hug.
Grandpa Teeples was wearing a heavy winter coat, jeans, and boots with a
cap. He looked like he was a good five
or six inches shorter than Beth, but part of that could have been age. I could hear her say; “good morning grandpa.”
She then ran on to the house and picked up a paper sack on the step. Jason walked to his grandfather and said
something I couldn’t hear. He walked
back to the van beside his grandfather and then turned and ran to the step and
picked up the remaining two sacks.
Beth had made it
back to the van before her grandfather and Jason. She opened the back and placed her sack
inside, then opened the passenger door for her grandfather, then the side door
and got in the back seat behind Amanda and me.
“Grandpa, I think
you’ve met Amanda, and this is Anna.
Anna, this is my grandfather, Mike Teeples.”
“Nice to meet you
Anna. Charlie told me about you last
night. I’m glad you’re coming with
us. I’m sure you’ll have a good
time. Wonderful to see you again
Amanda. It’s been a long time.”
I replied by
saying; “Nice to meet you Mr. Teeples.”
Amanda followed
with; “Good to see you again Mr. Teeples.”
Grandpa Teeples
quickly responded by saying; “Oh, no, please just call me Mike.”
By this time, Jason
had put the sacks he was carrying with the others, had gotten back in the
driver’s seat, and we were on our way to the cabin. After grandpa Teeples got in the van he
removed a blue knitted cap to reveal thinning silver hair. His face had deep furrows from age and
probably pain. He had hazel eyes, which
exhibited both kindness and pain. His
smile seemed sincere yet forced.
“Mr. Teeples, er… I
mean, Mike, I understand you’ve known Charlie for a very long time.”
“Yep, since we were
boys. We both grew up in the houses
we’re living in. His mom was still alive
when he lost his leg and they both kind of took care of each other for a couple
of years until she died. When we were
little we used to hunt and fish together every chance we got. A few times I got my hide tanned because I
was gone longer than we were supposed to be,” Mike said with a little
grin. “When we were really young, we’d
mostly go fishing close to home. We
didn’t catch much, but we had a great time.
When we got older we’d take the horses and be gone for days; hunting and
fishing. After he got back from the Army
we’d still go hunting and fishing when we could, but Martha, that’s my wife,
wasn’t doing so good. I would always
have to get someone to come and stay with her when we’d go, so we didn’t go so
much. And, at first, it was
pretty hard for him to get around with his new leg.”
“Grandpa, tell them
about the time you and Charlie went fishing up by Yellowstone a couple years
ago;” asked Jason with a big grin.
Mike, with an even
bigger grin that seemed to wipe away most of his wrinkles and the obvious pain
in his face said; “Ok, I can do that.
Then, Jason, you can tell them about the time you tried to take grandma
canoeing. Remember that time after she
had Alzheimer’s?”
Jason let out a
little laugh and said, “OK”
“Let’s see,” Mike started,
“Martha passed away just a couple years ago.
I was pretty lost without her.
Charlie said we needed to go fishing.
So, we packed up and headed for Henry’s Fork, that’s part of the Snake
River. We camped, fished a little,
talked a lot and told a few stories, some of them true,” he added with another
big grin and a wink. … “We really had a
great time and both of us forgot our pain.
On our way back, we took our time and drove around just to see some of
the old places. We stopped in this one little,
tiny town.” About this time Mike started
laughing at his own story.
“Me and Charlie wanted a soda, but the only place, looked like an
old house that had been converted into a bar.
We found out later there had been a murder there a couple years before. Pretty rough spot for two old broken down
codgers. … Anyway, we figured they’d
have a soda, so we walked in. It was
early afternoon and the place looked like every man in this tiny town was
already there, well on their way to getting drunk. There was Charlie, gimpin along with one good
leg. I was already using a cane and this
bunch looked pretty rough. We went up to
the bar and asked if they had any soda.
The bar tender was wiping a glass out with what looked like a dirty old
rag. He just looked at the two of us and
got this big grin and said, “nope.” Then
a couple of the men at the bar… started chuckling… and some other men… were
making cracks about us. We decided… we’d
better just leave… and turned around to head for the door… I was so nervous… I had no idea what I was
doing… I opened the first door I saw… and walked through with Charlie right
behind… closing the door… as soon as he was through.” By this time Mike was laughing hysterically,
only saying a few words at a time as he alternated between laughing and telling
the story. Both Jason and Beth were
laughing with him, but not quite as hard.
After pausing to get his breath and being able to talk again, Mike
continued; “As soon as I had gone through the door, I realized it was the wrong
door. Charlie didn’t realize until he
closed the door behind him. … We were both standing in a single toilet,
bathroom with a sink and barely enough room for the two of us. Charlie just looked at me, shook his head and
said, “hells bells Mike.” He then just
turned around, opened the door, and we both gimped out… with as much dignity as
we could muster. By this time, the whole bar was laughing and yelling at us, asking
what the two of us old men were doing in the can together. Charlie found the front door and we limped
out. We could still hear them as we got
in the pickup. With what dignity we had
left, we stopped at Ashton and got ourselves a soda, some gas, and headed
straight home.” Mike started laughing
again and by this time, Amanda and I were laughing too. I don’t know if it was because it was so
funny or because Mike, Jason, and Beth were all laughing so hard. After a while, things quieted down, and Jason
started his story.
“Our family loves
to go camping. We’ve done it as long as
I can remember, and lots of times grandma and grandpa would go with us, if they
could get our uncle to take care of the cows.
When the Lings were here, they would go with us too. We almost always had a great time. Not long before grandma passed away, we went
to this really beautiful lake up by Yellowstone for a week. It’s called Horseshoe Lake. It’s a great place to camp and it’s a great
place for canoeing. One section of the
lake has lily pads. Grandma loved lily
pads and wanted to see them up close.
She was insisting, and said she was going to take a canoe herself. She was far enough along with the Alzheimer’s
we knew that wouldn’t be safe, so I told her I’d take her, and we’d go get a
couple flowers. It was weird how she
remembered things like that but couldn’t remember what happened five minutes
before. She was happy when I told her
I‘d take her. Grandma was from Sugar
City, up in Idaho and used to go to the lake as a little girl. Like I said, she didn’t remember much, but
she remembered this lake. I had a hard
time getting her to wear a life jacket, but finally got it on her, and the two
of us headed out on the lake, with her in front. We were fine going over to the lily pads and
I picked a few flowers and gave them to her.
She was so happy and I think it reminded her of things when she was
little. She started to cry a little as
we were going back. I was in the back,
paddling, and keeping a close eye on her.
All the sudden she decided she didn’t like the life jacket and managed
to get it off, even though I kept telling her she needed to keep it on. She just kept saying she knew what she was
doing and could decide for herself. After
she got the life jacket off, she decided she wanted to show me the flowers she
had. I told her she could show them to
me when we got back to camp, but she was insisting and started standing up so
she could turn around. I was freaking
out. I just knew she was going to fall
in and drown. By this time, I was firmly
telling her to sit down. Grandpa could
see what was going on from the shore and was yelling as loud as he could,
“MARTHA SIT DOWN!” She would hesitate
and start to sit down and then start to stand up again. The canoe was rocking back and forth. I was panicked. Grandma was yelling, telling us not to tell
her what to do! Grandpa was freaking out
and yelling, and by this time mom, dad, Thomas and Mark, were all at the shore
yelling for grandma to sit down.” By
this point in the story, all three Teeples were laughing again.
“We were about fifteen feet from shore, and it happened. Grandma fell in, the canoe tipped over and I
went in after her.” Obviously, this had
a happy ending because everyone was still laughing, including Amanda and
me. “Fortunately, she went in where she
did. If we’d been closer to shore, she
might have hit her head on some rocks. I
was able to touch bottom so had no problem grabbing grandma, who was flailing
her arms and yelling for me to save her flowers. Dad came out and got grandma and I gathered
the canoe, paddles, her life jacket, and her precious flowers. By the time she changed into dry clothes she
had forgotten all about it and kept insisting we go back out on the lake. It was everything we could do to keep
changing the subject until it got too dark for her to want to go anymore.”
After the laughter
died down I asked; “you didn’t mention Beth.
Didn’t she go with you?” Jason
immediately started laughing pretty hard and said, “same camping trip,
different story. Mom and Beth are always
walking around with bare feet. Even when
we go camping.”
I could hear Beth
behind me say; “oh great!”
“Dad’s always
telling them they really should at least wear flip flops or something; but do
they listen??? Heck no! Dad and Grandpa had gone for a walk with the
boys. Mom, grandma, Beth, and I were
cooking. Grandma was being as helpful as
she could, but you had to be careful. If
you didn’t watch really carefully, she would throw things in that you DID NOT
want to eat. Mom would say; Martha, I
don’t think we need the shells this time and grandma would get a little upset
and say; ‘oh, I wasn’t going to put them
in;’ but, we knew from experience that if we didn’t pay close attention,
egg shells or pine needles or whatever would get in the food. Anyway, Beth was getting some extra eggs
because we had to throw out a batch when grandma wasn’t looking because she had
put the shells in and stirred them up with the eggs. As she was walking back, Beth stepped on a
Bee. Beth is allergic. It’s not so bad that she has to go to the hospital,
but we take medicine with us when we go camping in the summer. She spent the rest of the morning with her
foot in ice and could hardly walk for a couple days.”
“Thanks Jason!”
replied Beth as Jason again stopped laughing.
“Mike, you said
when you and Charlie went fishing you told lots of stories. What kind of stories did Charlie tell?”
“Mostly stories
about his life in the army. Funny stories,
but almost never any stories about either war.
Charlie didn’t like to talk much about Vietnam or the Gulf War. I understood and never pushed it. My dad was the same way. He was in the navy during World War II and
loved to tell funny stories about his experiences, but never talked about any
of the battles, or anything really bad.
Sometimes Charlie liked to tell traditional Shoshone and Nez Perce
stories. Lots about coyote. I remember sometimes he would stop and talk
about Bobby Sekaquaptewa and say that Bobby and coyote were alike in some ways. I remember him telling a story about why
White Fish has so many bones and Eel doesn’t.
He said it was because Eel lost a game of stick and bones. When he would tell animal stories, he would
do it with a complete serious straight face like he was telling the absolute
truth. He could really tell some
whoppers. Sometimes he would talk about
an old Indian Legend about magical stones.
I don’t think the story was either Nez Perce or Shoshone. I think he picked it up from some friends
from another tribe while he was in the Army.
Sometimes he would talk about the Lings.”
Mike then asked
Amanda about her family and me about mine.
Beth told a few stories, but none of them as good as the ones we had
already heard. All of this helped pass
the time and before we knew it, we were turning onto another long bumpy, very
snowy road.
“Don’t worry, the
van is four-wheel drive and we have studded snow tires,” Jason assured us with
his characteristically warm smile. I don’t
know if he noticed my look of fear through the mirror or what, but it sounded reassuring,
even though we seemed to be sliding all over the place with a close, steep,
drop into a stream part of the way.
Finally, we slowed
down to almost a stop and Beth pointing said; “look! deer.” There were four or five deer next to a small
barn which was next to a just barely larger log cabin. It was absolutely, breathtakingly
beautiful. It looked like it came right
out of a postcard. There was a small
porch with wooden posts in front. Two
windows looking onto the porch and two windows on the side. There was also one window that looked like a
partial second story on top, and in front, with a rock chimney rising from some
place on the other side. The snow had
been shoveled from the porch, from the porch along a path to where Jason parked
the van. Another path had been cleared
of snow going back to the barn and another path moving off some place to the
right. Mike opened the door and Jason
seemed to be right there already, helping his grandfather out of the van.
“Oh, I’m ok, I
don’t need any help!”
“I know you don’t,
just want to make sure.” Jason didn’t
take his grandfather’s arm or anything, just walked next to him as they slowly
walked up to the cabin, unlocked, and then went through the door. Amanda and I then got out, followed by Beth,
who immediately went around to the back of the van to unload. Amanda and I followed and found a lot more
than just the three bags brought from Mike’s.
The path was icy, and I had to grab the van at one point to keep from
falling.
“How much are we
going to eat?” Amanda asked in amazement.
“It’s not all for
today. Some of its stuff we’ll use
later,” responded Beth.
Each of us grabbed
a bag and headed to the door. Jason got
back just as we were leaving the van and grabbed a couple of bags which left
two.
“Don’t worry, I’ll
come back and get the last two,” said Jason.
The cabin was cold
and except for the light from the windows, dark. Mike was already making a fire in the
fireplace. It wasn’t just an open
fireplace, but had some kind of insert, similar to the one at Charlie’s. I figured it was probably more efficient than
just a regular fireplace. As we walked
into the cabin we were in a big living room that had a couple of old mismatched
couches. There was an old oversize
stuffed chair and a wooden rocking chair.
In the middle was a coffee table.
This was organized with a couch on each side of the fireplace and the
two chairs facing the fireplace.
Opposite the fireplace, but in the same room was an old table with metal
and plastic covered chairs. It looked
like a set from a really old cheap restaurant like I’d seen in some TV shows. In the back and on one side was a kitchen and
on the other side was what looked like a bedroom; though, it was too dark to
see for sure. Just above us was open;
but, about half the living room and the rest of the house was covered by
some-kind-of-loft. Circular stairs led
up to the loft. It didn’t take Mike long
to get a fire going and Amanda and I huddled close to get a little warmer. Mike then walked into the kitchen and to my
surprise, started lighting a fire in the stove.
I had never seen this kind of stove.
After Jason brought the last two bags in, and Beth had helped either
take things out or put things away, Jason lit a couple of lanterns and Beth
walked over to us to get warm.
“Where’s the
bathroom?” I whispered to Beth. “I
really gotta go.”
“Me too.” whispered
Amanda.
Beth grinned and
said; “this may be your biggest adventure of the day. Remember the path you saw as we came in. The one that went to the right? Well, you’re really lucky. My dad cleared the ice and snow off the seat
yesterday. Anyway, follow the path,” she
continued to smile as she gave us directions.
Both Amanda and I quickly walked back out the cabin door and followed
the path, which was now to our left.
When we got there we both looked at each other. I wondered if she was thinking the same thing
I was. I wondered how badly I had to go
and if there was any way I could hold it till we got home. After a fairly short pause, I entered. I have NEVER been so cold in ALL my life; but
we both survived. I was shivering harder
than I had ever shivered.
“Amanda,” I
shivered, “I’ve seen these in pictures and movies, but had no idea anyone still
used these things. Are you sure this is
worth it?”
“I hope so,” Amanda
stuttered in return.
When we got back in
the house, it already seemed a lot warmer; but my behind, wouldn’t be warm for
some time. By this time, the fire in the
fireplace was really going and there was a fire in the kitchen stove.
Beth was setting
out some fruit, muffins and juice, and said, “Jason will help you with the
water in the kitchen so you can wash up.”
I wondered what this meant but soon found Jason in the kitchen next to
some-kind-of-pump. As soon as we walked in,
he started pumping and with a big smile, handed us each a bar of soap.
“When we come in
for lunch, maybe we’ll have hot water, but that will take a while so it’s cold
for now, sorry.”
Jason continued to
pump until we were both done washing and drying… This wasn’t, quiet, as bad as the toilet, but
almost.
After we finished
eating, we started cleaning up and Mike said; “you kids go snowmobiling. I’ll clean up and start cooking.”
“Thanks grandpa,
thanks Mike,” we all said, as we walked back into the kitchen, washed up again,
and headed out the door. Jason was in
the lead and took us around towards the barn.
The deer were still eating as we approached, and we were able to get,
within about twenty feet of them. They
seemed to hardly notice us as Jason unlocked and opened two large doors that
revealed more hay, what looked like saddles, other horse things, and two
snowmobiles with large gas cans next to them.
“They’re already
filled up and ready to go,” said Jason. “Dad
made sure they were running yesterday when he came up with grandpa.” Jason then went over to one and got on. One of you will ride with me and the other
with Beth. After a while we’ll switch
and you two can drive,” Jason said looking at me and Amanda. Beth was already on the other snowmobile and
had it started.
She yelled;
“grandpa makes us wear helmets,” as she put on a helmet that had been sitting
on the seat and held out another.
Jason had already
put one on and yelled, “who’s with me?”
Amanda just froze
for what seemed an eternity. ‘Of all the times to be shy,’’ I thought
and gave Amanda a nudge towards Jason and walked over to Beth and took the
other helmet. I then went snowmobiling
for the first time in my life and let me tell you: I’D NEVER HAD SO MUCH FUN
IN ALL MY LIFE! We went all over the
place. Like Beth said, all the animals
were gone as soon as the engines started but we had a blast. The scenery was absolutely breathtaking. I drove a little and so did Amanda but gave
it back to Beth to drive after just a little while. I was too scared to go fast and fast was more
fun, so I let Beth drive most the time.
It was almost 12:30 and Beth and Jason both said we’d better get back
for lunch. We started, one behind the
other, down a road and then a field opened-up to the cabin. Before long we were racing across the
field. IT WAS SO FUN! Me and Beth beat Jason and Amanda. Afterwards Beth told me it was because Jason
let us have the faster machine. When we
got to the cabin, Mike was standing out on the porch.
“For Crying Out
Loud in The Night Jason! What did I tell
you about racing?”
Jason lowered his
head and said, “sorry grandpa.”
“Well, come on in,
lunch is on the table and the chili’s hot,” yelled Mike as he walked back into
the cabin.
Jason didn’t say
anything but let out just a little smirk.
So did Beth.
When we got back
into the cabin, we went through the same ritual of washing our hands at the
pump in the kitchen. After being out in
the cold all morning and after the fires had been going, it was too hot and we
all took our extra clothes off. Jason
wasn’t kidding about the chili being hot, in both ways. It took a few bites to get used to but was
delicious. The hot chocolate was
incredibly rich.
“What’s with this
hot chocolate?” I asked. “It’s
amazing. I’ve never tasted anything like
it.”
“It’s fresh whole
milk, with the cream,” responded Beth.
Amanda had started
to loosen up and was talking a lot more, asking all the Teeples questions about
the cabin and the area we rode through earlier.
Mike had calmed down and didn’t seem to be mad anymore. Jason started telling more funny stories
about the family and a few about wrestling.
Some of the family stories poked just a little fun at Beth and she
didn’t seem to appreciate that too much; but on the other hand, she didn’t
really seem to mind, too much either.
I’ll give him this, what Jason lacked in looks, he made up in
personality. He could be very funny. We were all laughing so hard, one time, Amanda
shot chocolate out her nose. She was
obviously embarrassed; but Beth just put her arm around her and gave her a
little squeeze and it all seemed better.
We all laughed, and it was ok.
Everyone, even Amanda told stories; but none of them as funny as
Jason’s. I think it was more his voice
and animation than what he actually said, he was just funny and could make the
funniest faces.
After a pretty long
lunch, Beth asked; “it’s getting pretty late.
Do you want to go out and snowmobile some more, or do you want to do
something else? We have some games if
you want to just stay in here and talk, we can do that.”
“I’ll go back out
if everyone else wants. It was really fun this morning; but I’m having a great
time now. If it’s ok, I’d rather stay in
here, play games, and just talk,” said Amanda.
I was surprised at
so much assertiveness from Amanda. Being
in complete agreement, though, I nodded my head and said, “yeah, me too.” I really did have a great time but was
utterly exhausted and really having fun just hanging and talking by the fire.
“I’m good with
that,” said Jason. “I’ll go put the
snowmobiles away and lock the barn.”
“Let’s get
everything cleaned up and we can find a game and sit down by the fire.” Beth
stood up and started clearing the dishes as she was talking. “Grandpa heated a couple tubs of water on the
stove. We’ll wash in one and rinse in
the other and be done in no time. I’ll
wash, who wants to rise and who wants to dry?”
“I’ll rinse,”
Amanda responded.
“How about I wash
and you dry Beth, you know where everything goes.” I thought this would make more sense plus I
really didn’t mind washing.
“Ok, let me take
the washcloth and wash the table off first,” replied Beth as she put an old washcloth
in a tub of soapy water and returned to wash the table. There were two tubs of water sitting on a
counter. As soon as Beth returned, I
started washing and was surprised how quickly the job was done and how much fun
I had actually had. All three of
us were talking and giggling the whole time.
By the time we were finishing up, and started looking around, we noticed
that Mike was gone and Jason had either not come back or was gone again.
“Who wants to go
out-side and see what Jason’s up to, and when he’s coming back in?” asked Beth.
“I will,” responded
Amanda immediately with predictable enthusiasm.
“Ok, you go check
and me and Anna will get this finished up and find a game. We have Scrabble, Sorry, Monopoly… that would
take too long, UNO, and Clue. Any
preference?”
“I really don’t
like Scrabble very much, but any of the others would be ok,” said Amanda as she
put her coat and boots back on and left the cabin.
“How bout you Anna,
what do you want to play?”
“I’ve never heard
of UNO, what’s that like?”
“It’s a card
game. Pretty simple. The nice thing is it’s easy to talk and pay
at the same time.”
“That sounds good,
let’s try it.”
“Ok, I’ll grab it
from the cupboard. If you and Amanda
don’t like it, we can switch to another game.”
Beth walked over to a cupboard in the kitchen area and pulled out a box
that said, Uno then took it over to the coffee table by the fireplace.
Just then Jason
opened the door and walked in with an arm full of wood followed by Amanda with
a smaller load. They were talking and
laughing about something. Jason walked
over to the fireplace and put his wood in a nearby box. Amanda brought her load into the kitchen.
“Where does this go
Beth?” asked Amanda.
““Right in here.” Beth
walked back to the kitchen and pointed to another box, not touching, but
sitting just to the side of the stove.
“Thanks for bringing it in.
Jason, what’s grandpa up to?”
“He’s out chopping
wood,” responded Jason with a little laugh.
“You know Jason,
he really shouldn’t be doing stuff like that.”
“Well, Beth, I
guess you can be the one to go tell him.” Jason grinned as he responded. “You know you can’t tell grandpa he can’t do
something. Besides, I’ve heard him say a
million times, he’d rather die doing something he likes, then just waste away.”
“Well, I’m not in
any hurry to have it happen, and I sure don’t want it to happen when we have
company, AND when we’re out in the woods like this without a phone.”
“He’ll be
fine. He’s leaning against the barn and
only cutting kindling.”
After a pause in
their conversation, and while Jason was adding wood to the fire I asked;
“what’s upstairs?”
“Oh my gosh, I
forgot to show you. It’s really cool,”
responded Beth, as she motioned for Amanda and me to follow her up the metal
circular stairs. At the top of the stairs
was a loft or balcony. We could see out
the upstairs front window. We could see
part of the trails we had snowmobiled on earlier that day. At one end of the balcony was a bookshelf
with lots of what looked like pretty old books.
At the other end was some-kind-of-cupboard. The loft had a wooden railing and we could
see the fireplace, front door, and one of the couches and chairs below. There were two doors that opened onto the
balcony. Beth opened the one to the left
and said, “this is another bedroom. The
one downstairs is bigger and has a queen bed.
Both of the ones up here have twin beds.
Let me show you the back window.”
Beth walked in the bedroom. The
ceiling was slanted to one side and there was a small armoire, dresser, and nightstand
with a lantern on it. As we got to the
back, Beth opened the window curtains and said, “isn’t that beautiful?” It really was beautiful. I could see part of the barn and some fence,
but just beyond that was what looked like a creek or stream with a little
bridge arching across. I thought to
myself it was probably the same creek we had followed part of the way here.
After taking turns looking out the window. (It wasn’t wide enough for all three of us or
even two of us to really get a good look at the same time.) Beth said, “I’ll show you the other room. It’s basically the same, but we’ll go
look. There’s three bedrooms and both
the couches downstairs open into beds.
When all the cousins are here in the summer, most the kids sleep
outside.” We then walked out the first
bedroom and into the second. It was
basically the same, but both Amanda and I walked to the window anyway, to take
another look behind the cabin. After
staring for a while, we walked back out onto the balcony and down the circular
stairs.
“It’s about
time you got back. Are we going
to play cards?” Jason had already dealt
a hand to each of us and was sitting on one of the coaches.
We all sat down in
front of the coffee table. The fire was
going pretty good and it was very warm in that part of the cabin. Amanda sat next to Jason and Beth and I sat
on the other side. Jason explained UNO
and we began to play. Beth was right, it
wasn’t a game that made you think really hard, but then again, I didn’t really
care if I won or not. We were too busy
talking about family and friends and things we’d done and wanted to do. They all asked questions about San Francisco,
especially Amanda. Jason was a 49’rs fan
and we talked a little about sports. Beth
and Jason were really into basketball and big Jazz fans. They sounded really worried about the Jazz
season. Beth seemed especially hyper
about it, talking about what coach Sloan should and shouldn’t do, management
mistakes, who was and wasn’t healthy and who was slacking. Both Beth and Jason played basketball in
school. Jason played baseball too, and
Beth played volleyball. According to
both Jason and Amanda, Beth was an exceptionally good volleyball player. I’m not that into sports but it was still interesting. After a while, the UNO game just kind-a
stopped without anyone winning.
We were all so
engrossed in just talking and laughing that we forgot everything else until it
got cold enough that Amanda nudged Jason and asked; “could you turn up the heat
a little?”
Jason looking like
he had just been startled out of a trance, jumped just slightly and said, “oh,
I guess it is getting a little cold.” Then put some more wood on the fire,
warming the room again quickly.
Jason then told
more funny stories, which I expected he might have embellished just a
little. It was obvious that both he and
his dad were big jokesters. Not that
they would have to wait for the excuse, but I got the impression April 1st
may be Max and Jason’s favorite holiday.
Beth told a couple
stories about jokes Max and Jason had played over the years. “One time in the
middle of the night on the morning of April 1st, my dad got up super
early and turned all the electricity off in the house. He then went into every room and turned
radios, CD players, TV’s, lights, and about anything he could think of, that
would make a noise or light, on and up.
He then went back to the breaker and turned the power on. Thomas and Mark came running out of their
room to my mom and dad’s room. I fell
out of bed. Once the noise was turned off,
I could hear Jason laughing and yelling: “Good one dad!” And… I could hear Mom yell; “Max!” Mom and I went looking for dad but he wasn’t
anywhere in the house. We could see the
light on in the shop. After a while he
walked in like nothing had happened and asked why we were all up… Just matter-of-factly said he’d been out
working in the shop for hours.
Eventually he always confessed, and that time he confessed by
lunch. Mom was SO mad, but I think she
forgave him by dinner, because by then there was way too much PDA going on
again.
Another time Jason played a really good joke on mom and dad. It was sometime in January or February. They have an electric blanket with dual
controls. One-time Jason snuck into
their bedroom and very carefully ran the controls behind the bed to the
opposite sides. When they got in bed,
dad was too hot and kept turning his control down. Mom was too cold and kept turning hers
up. Dad just kept getting hotter and mom
kept getting colder until they figured it out.
Dad got a good laugh out of it; mom wasn’t so happy.”
“OK, sometimes I
wonder if you guys speak a different language here. What’s PDA other than an
electronic device?” I was finally comfortable enough to ask a few of my ‘stupid’ questions.
“Oh, PDA is public
display of affection,” replied Beth. “I think our parents sometimes kiss and
hug in front of us a little too much just to gross us out.”
“OK, I have another
one for you. What’s a granola?”
“A granola is a
person, usually from the east or west coast who moves to the mountains in the
west to “get back to nature.” They’re usually tree huggers and don’t have
anywhere near the common sense of the native people who’ve lived here for
thousands of years. They do stupid
things like set up tepees in the mountains and live there all year and freeze
their behinds off. They might live in a
cabin like this year around and that wouldn’t be too bad; but even though I
love it here, I wouldn’t want to live here all the time. They’re not a bad
sort, just kind of kooky,” responded Jason.
“So, I’m not a
granola?” I asked.
“Heck no! You’re
just one of them ‘Californians.’
Jason replied with his characteristic grin that was beginning to grow on me and
using a funny voice to say the word Californians.
“Did someone call
you a granola?”
““Yeah, one of my
first days. Just didn’t know what it
meant.” Looking at Beth then Amanda, I
asked; “for some reason Charlie wanted me to watch this old movie, The
Earthling. I decided to get it. It will be here next Friday. Do you want to come over and watch it with me,
maybe spend the night?” I then looked at Jason and smiled, “Sorry Jason, you’re
not invited.”
Jason laughed,
shaking his head and said, “That’s ok, really not into sleepovers anyway.”
“Sure, that would
be fun, I’ll bring food. Do I need
anything else?” asked Beth.
“No, we’ve got
plenty of blankets and I have this huge queen size bed and the couch in the den
is a pull out.”
“I was going to
hang with D’Lisa Friday night, but we don’t have plans. Can I bring her?” asked
Amanda.
“Sure, that would
be great. Ok with you Beth?”
“Fine with me.”
“D’Lisa usually
goes to Mass early on Saturday with her family, but they can just pick her up. She’s ok for another day, even if she doesn’t
get much sleep,” responded Amanda with her genuine enthusiasm.
“Great, about 7.”
“Sounds good,”
replied both Beth and Amanda.
About then the door
opened, and Mike walked in. “Jason, would you run me up the road for a few
minutes? I told the Wilson’s I’d take a gander at their cabin every-once-in-a-while
this winter since they’re snow birding down in St. George this winter. We’ve had a pretty good snow and I want to
check their roof. It’s getting late, you
girls might want to get the hot chocolate and hot dogs going and we can do the smores
when we get back. I’ll have Jason put
the hot dogs on the porch before we leave.”
“Sure grandpa. I’ll
grab my coat and boots and be right out.”
Jason and Mike were
out the door within just a couple minutes, and I looked at Amanda and then
Beth. “See what I mean about the language. What does gander mean?”
I was looking at Amanda,
who responded, “I have absolutely no idea.”
I then turned and
looked at Beth, who grinned and said, “that’s a really old term, grandpa uses
it all the time but most people around here don’t say it much anymore. It means look. He’s going to take a look at the cabin. Grandpa has all kinds of expressions like
that. Some are pretty embarrassing.”
“Ok, what’s snow
birding?” I then asked.
“Oh, I know that
one,” responded Amanda with a happy/proud look on her face. “It’s something
some old people do in the winter. They go south.”
Just the way Amanda
said it made me laugh.
Beth then went into
the kitchen and got out a pot for water.
"One of you want to come pump for me? We're out of milk, so will have to make the
hot chocolate with powdered mix. Not as
good, but it’ll do."
"Sure."
Responded Amanda as she got up and went to the kitchen to pump.
"I’ll grab the
hot dogs from the porch, and we can have everything ready when grandpa and
Jason get back." After adding a little wood to the stove and blowing on the
fire a little Beth walked over to a cupboard and got out some long stick things
that looked sort of like a very long two-pronged fork.
"What are
those for?" I asked.
"We'll open up
the front of the stove in the fireplace and cook our hot dogs inside. We can
put a couple on at a time. I'll get started so we can eat when grandpa and
Jason get back. See that bag on the
counter." Beth pointed one of the bags. "There's hotdog buns and all
kinds of condiments. Would one of you
grab that sack and take it to the coffee table. The other sack over here on the floor,"
Beth pointed to another sack. "has paper plates, more napkins, chocolate,
marshmallows, and gram crackers." Amanda
grabbed the first bag, and I grabbed the second.
We had just barely
cooked the first batch of hotdogs when Jason and Mike got back. Soon we were all eating hot dogs, smores, and
drinking hot chocolate. I had never had
smores before. They were a mess, and we
were all laughing about it, even Mike. It
felt good to see Mike laughing again. Most of the time he really did look like he
was in a lot of pain. I think being with
his grandkids and us and laughing helped him take his mind off the pain, maybe
it even made it go away just a little.
It was getting dark
by then and we all cleaned up. Beth put the fire out in the stove and Jason put
it out in the fireplace. Mike and Jason
put the lanterns out as we were leaving, and Mike locked up.
Maybe, this had
been the best day of my life. I had not been so happy since that one summer I
spent with my grandma before she died.
Unfortunately,
things were about to change for the worse. Much, much, worse.
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