Friday, June 1, 2007

A Hitchcockesque Affair

June 1, 2007 a.k.a. Last Day of School

So... tonight was my first attempt at a large social affair. I thought "Cookout, what a fantastic way to end the school year!"

Well, my efforts floundered.

It turns out that this particular night of June the first was by far the most terrible night to plan
an event. Between summer camps, rehearsal dinners, weddings, recitals, trips to Nicaragua, and attempts to avoid awkward conversation, we had a grand total of seven fabulous people.

The evening (afternoon?) began with my beloved Emily arriving three hours early and assisting me in cleaning up spilled tea all over the kitchen floor. Yes, you know you have a friend when they help you scrub your own floors.

When the burgers were cooked, baked beans ready, and casseroles prepared (Emily's salad made), a crew of an additional three graced us with their presence. Megan and CLinton showed up armed with hotdog buns.... OK, she insisted on bringing something so I texted her to bring "hamburger buns". Now, I specifically remember saying hamburger because I thought just saying "buns" would sound silly and encourage immature humor. (P.S. Megan checked her phone and it DID say Hamburger!) Upon their arrival, Barb (aka mom), decided she would have a rock garden. She also decided that everyone passed our way would create their own addition to the rock garden. Hence, Emily, Megan, and Erin began their masterpieces. Sometime in between, we ate a lovely dinner (Hamburgers with hotdog buns!) and finished the rocks four hours later: Megan with her basketball, Erin with her Bible verse, and Emily with her meadow and a cucumber (because "Emi-loo" and "Barbie" are pals, Emily painted two rocks to sweeten the deal.

Around 9:30, Jessie called to say that the wedding was over, Wiley was fishing, and she was stopping by. About ten minutes later, Dixie announced her arrival, and everyone screamed, "JESSIE!" It was an exciting moment for everybody, especially Barb, who snatched her up immediately to create another rock for the blooming garden. More on that later.

This all sounds very exciting. However, the real excitement began with Hitchcock himself. As Erin and Megan moved their masterpieces onto the porch, I decided to share with them the news of the new edition to our abode: four (I think) small chirping birds in a watering can on the shelf. For days, I've watched the mother and father run in and out and feed their children small worms, slimy grubs, and other things I hope my parents never fed to me. On numerous occasions, my lovely sister has pulled the watering can down from the shelf to peer inside at these tiny creatures. At this moment, I am excited to share with Megan and Erin my new discovery. However, as soon as I pulled down the little watering can, two tiny birds fluttered out recklessly. I screamed, Erin yelled, "No!", and Megan made some disgusted grunt. As we stood there totally stunned, Erin announced in her sweet manor and precious optimism that we needed to save these birds. With one stuck behind the door, another mounted on the screen, and two, very confused, still stuck in the watering can, we were set. My Dad appeared with gloves (always good when dealing with birds), and Erin fearlessly put them on, Megan armed with the watering can and I with my camera.

We spent the next half hour to forty-five minutes in a courageous attempt to save the birds. After coaxing the birds several times in the watering can, and then watching them scurry out, we captured all four at one time. Then we were really confused as to what to do with them. We weighed our options to and fro: "Do we leave them outside?" I said. "No!" Erin protested, "There are predators!" "Well we certainly can't leave them in here," Megan reasoned, "The dogs will eat them." At this time, Jessie and Emily came to see what all the fuss was about. As we were distracted, the birds slyly escaped from their can, and created mayhem about the porch. The chase began again and it was five against four, (although one time we were sure there were many many more.) We succeeded in our endevors and captured all four birds but were once again faced with the familiar dilemma. What do we do now? We all agreed (well, everyone except Birdsaving Erin. But we converted her with a little coaxing) that the birds were now stong enough to fly and face the wild on their own. We felt that we had trained them up and now they were ready to face predators. We opened the porch door to the outside for their ready escape and snuck inside.

Our night has now ended with four Wrenns on my back porch (Still), Erin demanding a full report in the morning, Jessie still working on her rock (we still don't know what it is) and me wondering if I should let my dogs outside...

2 comments:

Jessie said...

admit it, my rock started to take shape before i left... buckeye no more! ;)

i had a great time typing for you, and i can already tell i will greatly enjoy reading your blog in the future!

thanks again for tonight... especially the latte!

Crazy Crystal said...

so im real sad i missed this cookout. real sad. i miss you ellen!