Thursday, January 14, 2016

Santa Does Not Have Chicken Powers


When Lily and Jason took Owen in to get his arm X-rayed again, the belief and hope was that all would be well and he could get a short cast and Bob's your uncle.
But no. The X-ray showed that the fracture is not healing correctly and so they recasted him and tomorrow he goes back at 8:00 a.m. for surgery to reset the bone and have pins put in.
Not what anyone wanted to hear.
I'm sure he'll be fine but glory be! So much for him and this little family.
Boppy's going to go stay with Gibson in the morning and I'm going to go meet Lily and Maggie and Jason and Owen at the clinic where they do the surgery and stay with them until at least 10:00 when I am supposed to go meet Jessie at our friend Melissa's for hair cuts.
Ooh boy.
And so it goes and so forth and we are still planning on going to Apalachicola in the afternoon if all goes well, which I am sure it will. Mr. Moon is already packed and I have made a good start.

Gibson was a precious boy this afternoon. He can play by himself with little characters and animals and the beloved Bacchus headed corkscrew if he gets the chance for long spaces of time. He makes up entire scenarios involving everyone with sound effects and explanations to them all. Will he grow up to be a writer? A director? Who knows? But it sure is fascinating to watch.
At one point today, he looked at a card I have taped to the kitchen hutch which has a picture of an Elvis-looking rooster on it.
"That Elvis?" he asked.
"No, it's just a rooster who looks like Elvis."
"Elvis is dead," he said sadly. "He just died. I wish I could see him again."
"I know, honey," I said. "I miss him too."
His face brightened and he said, "I'll ask Santa to bring him back next Christmas!"
"Oh, baby. It doesn't work like that."
"Santa doesn't have chicken powers?"
"No. He doesn't."
"Oh," he said. His face grew sad again and we discussed where Elvis is buried and the conversation moved on.
He helped me make cookies and then bread dough, lifting the lever of the mixer for me, adding ingredients.
"I such a good helper," he said.
"Yes you are," I told him. And after we had mixed up the cookies he licked the beater and was covered in chocolate and we had to get out Mr. Washcloth, a character that I invented. Mr. Washcloth is eternally hungry, not only for cookie dough but for the dirt that boys get on their hands and faces.
"No, no, Mr. Washcloth!" Gibson cried with great and effective drama as I approached him with the washcloth draped over my hand like a puppet. But he was giggling and Mr. Washcloth got his fill of cookie dough too.
And so it was a good afternoon and I even got a little nap while Gibson watched videos on the bed on my phone beside me.

When they came to pick Gibson up, I told Owen how sorry I was about his arm.
"At least I'll be asleep," he said.
"Yep," I told him. "It won't hurt you."
"How you arm?" Gibson asked him after Owen had discovered where he was hiding. The boys always hide when their parents come to pick them up. As Owen might say, it never gets old.
"Not good," said Owen. "I have to get surgery."
My heart clutched. But what are you going to do? Better than in the old days where when you broke a bone, they set it, cast it, and that was that until the proscribed time for healing had passed and they took the cast off and bid you good-bye. The wrist I broke when I was seventeen has bothered me ever since the day I broke it and after I did some knitting the other night, woke me up repeatedly.

Mr. Moon is home and leftover soup is warming up and bread is rising. It's not going to be my best bread. I tried to put too much oat bran in it and it's going to be what I affectionally call "sturdy." "Wholesome" would be another word as would "dense," "hearty," and perhaps "chewy."
Oh well.
Perhaps tomorrow night we'll be eating at the soulful seafood restaurant we discovered last time we were in Apalach, where the shrimp are perfect, the hushpuppies are not sturdy, and the mullet is ethereally heavenly.
Praise the Lord and pass the Crystal hot sauce.

A day in the life.

Love...Ms. Moon








11 comments:

  1. I'm so sorry to hear about little Owen. He's being brave about it and you will be there for him and everyone else. He's just so little for this. I do hope you get to go on you trip and your dreams settle down. You've been through a lot in the past few months. Love you.

    ReplyDelete
  2. How you arm? I just died a little.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Gibson. He is still so little, not much more than a baby himself. It makes me sad that he has to know that Santa doesn't have chicken powers. Ah, the bitter-sweetness of it all. I am glad he has a Mer-Mer to gently guide his through all these things that little ones don't understand.

    Love the Mr. Washcloth idea! And I hope you enjoy your time away.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wait. What the hell? Elvis? Did he die? Did I miss this?



    Oh, and of course I'm so sorry to hear of Owen's coming ordeal. I know it'll be ok. That family is in the thick of it all right now, aren't they?

    ReplyDelete
  5. I really think that up to a certain age (not sure if Owen is there yet or past it) scary medical procedures and pain are harder on the parents/grandparents than on the child. It sounds like Owen is being brave. This time tomorrow it will be history and he can heal properly. Sending good thoughts your way.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'll be thinking of you all when it's your morning. x
    (I love chewy bread the most. You have to eat it mindfully and chew a lot or you will regret it.)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Smooth sailing to brave big brother Owen.

    ReplyDelete
  8. "Chicken powers." Ha! I love that.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Santa SHOULD have chicken powers. That made me want to laugh and cry at the same time.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Gibson! Santa and chicken powers could not be more of an instant classic.

    I'm so sorry Owen has to have surgery. That sucks for everything. :(

    ReplyDelete
  11. You are so good with your grandchildren. And I also miss Elvis. He certainly had chicken powers.

    ReplyDelete

Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.