Two Hands, One Foot

     Every Friday night is different at our house and, without exception, each is fun.  It’s the night when our friends and loved ones know to come on by.  They bring an appetizer; we supply the drinks.  For a couple of hours there is talk and laughter and we are all reminded (though no one ever says) of why face-to-face communication oh-so-much-better than that virtual realm we seem to inhabit more and more frequently.
     Last evening was somewhat typical of summer Fridays.  There were three full-time residents of Oysterville who are weekly “regulars” plus a new friend who lives in Surfside who we hope will also be heere often.  There were two part-time residents who come when they are in town.  Our friend from Seattle who is renting the Oysterville Guest House was here with her sister and another friend neither of whom we’d met before.  And some of the Red House Cousins were here.
     The latter group livened things up considerably.  They included Abby, my second-cousin-once-removed, her husband Dan, Silas-their-four-year-old, and Ginger-their-three-year old.  We hadn’t seen them since last November but they had not even stepped over the threshold before Si said something about “the car.”  I ignored that and tried not to look guilty.
     Abby had called a few minutes before 5:00 to say they were coming and would I mind deep-sixing Nyel’s model of the Mercedes Benz 300 SL Gull Wing that sits on the hearth in our East Room out of sight of the Friday night festivities.
     “It absolutely ruins Friday nights for me,” she said, and I knew exactly what she meant.  There is an uncanny magnetic attraction between Silas and that car.  He checks it out immediately when he gets here and won’t leave it alone.  Abby feels she needs to be right with him to insure that neither the Gull Wing nor anything in its path comes to harm.  So, I put it out of sight in the secretary desk.
     Well, it was one of those evenings when the appetizers were more than our coffee table could handle and so, without thinking, I started to pull down the ‘lid’ of the secretary desk for added buffet space.  Immediately, I spied the Gull Wing, gave Nyel the high sign and he put it in the cupboard under the sink in the bar.  Silas was exploring behind the couch at that point.  No problem – or so we thought.
     But a little sister comes in very handy sometimes.  Ginger saw it all and soon conveyed her clandestine knowledge to Silas who, like quicksilver, was into the bar and into the cupboard.  Again, Nyel was Johnny-on-the-spot, rescued the Gull Wing and put in on a high shelf out of sight and out of reach.
     And life was good…until Silas decided to demonstrate his musical ability.  After all, it’s not everyone who can play the piano with two hands and one foot!