excerpt of an evening

"Five degrees outside this morning," Daddy had said. So he built a giant roaring fire that smoked grey puffs out the chimney and over the house.  

The boys have been home.  You can tell it by the extra coats lying on rockers or the couch.  Walking through the house in the evening you can see the eyes of Abrum peering just above the lines of an article he's reading.  Sometimes you'll find his eyes - not on the article - but staring at you, just to see how long it takes you to notice. Then you'll see the edges of his eyes crinkle as he grins and looks back to his reading. He always crosses his legs when he reads, but it never looks so fitting as it does on a winter evening by the fire. Chris says it takes him ages to write just one letter and that it's hard for him to transfer thoughts to words to paper.  He does it though, regardless, like he does now, head bent over his papers at the end of the table where daddy sits.  I've always imagined Chris to be a younger variation of my Granddaddy.  Especially now when he has his beard.  It's dark and thick and makes him look like a spanish pirate.  Anne brews tea and brings him a pot of it and a mug to pour it in.  Anne's tea is for the adventurous.  It's hot and good, mostly, but there are times she'll put strange unnamable things in it that one dasn't question if he dares to drink. 

 I was sitting on the arm of Daddy's chair slumped up against him when I realized how funny Jeremy was.  He was standing by the fire with a mug of Anne's Brew and hodge podge of clothes on, all mixed up and very eclectic of him. On his head was a toboggan, then a classy sweater over long sleeves and over that he wore a leather jacket. As for the bottom layers, there were red gym shorts, under which he wore long, loose fitting black and white checked pants, thick socks and flip flops. I laughed, but appreciated it whole heartedly.  I have a skirt that's tattered to pieces and a shirt that's full of holes and clorox stains, but it was one of my favorite outfits to wear. Much to Mama's perplexity and on occasion chagrin, I'd wear that outfit with blue leggings and flip flops on Lady Day. All the ladies would be there, and, as the kitchen adjoins the living room where they wait, I'd be seen of The Ladies and their children as I went in for vittles or drink.  Mama asked me a few times why I must wear that tattered skirt - it really did float tatters of material as I walked - but I just said it was a comforting outfit.  So she'd grin at me and say "suit yourself, darlin' but I think it's nearing the end of its rope". 

You know, we're all such funny creatures.  It'd be good for us, I suppose, to 

"To see oursels as ithers see us! " I suppose I'd laugh a great deal more that way.