Shine!

May Zether turned 45 on Thursday, which explains her toying with the idea of a new hairdo. In truth, she was happy with her easy-care hair and had trepidation about changing to a style that required daily maintenance. She had enough to worry about each day without having to think about herself. She was feeling sort of lackluster lately. She needed to have the shine put back on the apple, she thought, which reminded her that she was still searching for a market that carried Jubilee kitchen wax. Finkenheimer's had stopped carrying it long ago. Jubilee was the secret ingredient in her three-step cleaning process. First: the abrasive-"Comet" for real deep cleaning and disinfecting. Next: the spray-"Fantastic" to pick up any fine powder left by the abrasive. Finally: the wax-"Jubilee" to make those surfaces shine like fresh-from-the-factory new. The kink in the garden hose was that May was down to her last drops of Jubilee and had already made a market to market pilgrimage without success. She needed her shine. As she started scrubbing that stubborn ring around the tub, you could faintly hear her singing "Shiny, shiny, right down behind me" in her sweetest,shiniest voice.

Junie had cultivated (without effort) a reputation in the neighborhood,  not only as a short term caretaker of homes  and pets, but also children. She was busy babysitting every Friday and Saturday night without fail; sometimes on weeknights. When babysitting, she took full refrigerator privileges, even if not officially extended, and might prepare a meal or snack for the children.  She was always amazed that adults would leave their infant children with her or that she would be asked to supervise kids only one or two years younger than herself, based only on a reference from another neighborhood family. She was especially amazed because she was not a fun babysitter. She did not bring a box of activities with her. That would take some pre-planning on her part. She would not play the odd game of Parcheesi or Sorry. There was really nothing to recommend or set apart her services, except for availability.  She was in it for the control of the television remote and free reign of the snack cabinet. That was it. She had not developed any liking or empathy for her little charges but that did not seem to be required. Dr. Yeardley's wife asked Junie if she could stay a week with the girls, starting Thursday, as she had an opportunity to attend a medical convention with the good doctor.  Junie fairly leaped at the chance. She could stay up as late as she wanted. It was a school week so she  would still have to get up early and make sure the girls got safely to school and did their homework and that she did her own homework and prepared their meals. Her head was drowning with the possibilities. To be away from Johnette and May (at least until she saw them at the Little League Snack Shack for her Monday shift) would be heavenly. Junie, if nothing else, is idealistic, capable, and industrious.      

Surprise!

The Gundersons came back from North Dakota and invited over the Zethers for supper, in lieu of payment to Junie for house-sitting. Since Junie had certainly done her share of sitting at the Gunderson's and little else, it was fitting.  The Gundersons were adventurous eaters and had prepared an Indonesian-themed meal. Johnette being a picky eater (literally and figuratively) helped herself to finger-sized and finger-served bites of white rice. Junie, being an indiscriminate eater, hungrily eyed the gaily molded gelatin confection in the center of the table, its' creamy orange-redness calling out to her.  She was extremely disappointed to discover the gelatin was not a delightful dessert, but instead, a savory tomato aspic. She did not discover her mistake until her mouth was full....

Monday night at the supper table, Carter Reed announced to his mother and father that he would be applying to attend Mudd in the spring. Timothy and Delia Reed, during their nightly bedtime affirmations, agreed that it was a good decision to let Carter visit his cousin, and that perhaps more weekend trips could be arranged....  

Anthropology?

Fred and Frannie Gunderson were off to North Dakota to visit Fred's brother. They left the keys with May and asked if Junie could keep an eye on the place while they were away. They did not have any pets for Junie to care for, but they did have lovely berry bushes, an extraordinary collection of Appalachian folk instruments dating back to the 1830's, and Colombian folk art of more recent provenance. They were in their fifties, childless, and had somehow come to the conclusion that May's children were short adults (probably because Junie was rather precocious, tested genius-level on an I.Q. test and was more comfortable conversing with adults given her considerable social deficits). Junie, however, being a fractious and mercurial child, seized upon the opportunity and used Fred and Frannie's home as a sort of archaeological and anthropological study. She puzzled over the art and tried all the instruments until finally able to play something resembling music on the hammer dulcimer, but little else. She searched the cupboards for goodies and was disappointed to only find several boxes of Rykrisps and a half-eaten roll of fruit-flavored Certs in the kitchen counter candy/keys/paper clips dish. She figured they wouldn't miss one or two....

Junie was named for the month of her conception, not her birth. May and James Zether had just attended a musical theater production of "Albert and Marilyn", a play that explores the nexus between sexuality and relativity, featuring such songs as "She =DD squared" and "G-string Theory". James was electrified by the performance. Enough said....

May Zether had finally decided it was time to do something about her hair. The obvious choice should have been to try out the new salon in town, "Campus Clippers". All the vibrant younger women of the town were giving the new business a try, as the hometown hero, Daniel Fritz and his young wife Penny, were the owner/manager. And seeing as there was no college "campus" nearby, the shop catered to mothers of school age children and soon-to-be coeds. May felt torn because of her obvious allegiance to Sonny of "Hair by Sonny". It was Sonny who styled her wedding reception/garden party up-do. It was Sonny who gave Johnette and Junie their first pixies....

Carter Reed arrived home early Saturday morning. He had spent the night at his cousin's frat party way out at the Colleges. His cousin went to Mudd, predominantly known for it efforts toward the perpetuation of male genius domination. Apparently Mudd men attract a few women, some equal in genius but lacking in pulchritude. So it goes that the Mudd men have mastered the use of "Good and Plenty" goggles to their advantage. Carter discovered that chanting "Good and Plenty, Good and Plenty, Good and Plenty", while pounding back shots of Ouzo, makes the most unlikely things happen....

"The Last of the Summer Berries"