Vietnam or Thailand ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
I miss Portland sometimes, but . . . I've been writing a lot." "Good," Ingrid said. "You always wanted to." "And you?" Joe asked. "Same old," she said cheerfully. "Selling quite a bit. I'm down to teaching one class." Joe bent over and looked at her earrings. A tiny woman swung from a trapeze on one ear; an elephant waited patiently under the other. "Pretty good," he said. "A circus."
But some people don't get hangovers; they're just a little fuzzy in the morning. Ingrid was like that. I can't take it. Tea, that's the stuff," he said, drinking from a small round cup. "So, what have you been doing?" "Oh, the usual," she said. "I've been over to Kauai a few times. I got a decent shot of the cook at Tops." "Jade Willow Lady," Joe said. "Yes.
Wanda and Ingrid are almost young women. In a year or two they will be at a marriageable age. How much longer do you suppose you can keep them in ignorance? Perhaps they know things already. I have sometimes surprised a look in Wanda's eyes which suggested that she saw more than was desirable.
"Good deal," Joe said, "haven't seen her for a couple of years." He wasn't that anxious to see Ingrid, but in Max's presence he lapsed into old habits. The years might have been weeks, and he might have been just away on a business trip. "Wait til you see what I bought," Max said. He handed Joe a photograph of a farm at the base of a mountain. "It's near Londonderry, in Vermont.
Occasionally, he went outside on a long porch to cool off in a fine drizzle that was drifting in from the harbor. A group gathered around the wedding cake on a table at the far end of the room. Sally and Ingrid stood together looking mellow and nostalgic. Gunnar and Bonnie were talking with friends. Max was taking pictures. It was time to go, Joe realized.
They form a ring; there is silence for a moment and then, 'mid great flapping of dingy handkerchiefs and battered hats, a hearty cheer is heard. "They're cheering my birthday," cries Ingrid. "Miss Mary knows it's my birthday. Oh, isn't it lovely!" And the thin hands eagerly waft some grateful kisses to the group below.
The pious but love-sick sister Ingrid, this Vadstene's Heloise, writes to her heart's beloved, Axel Nilsun for the chronicles have preserved it for us: "Broderne og Systarne leka paa Spil, drikke Vin och dansa med hvarandra i Tradgården!"
They said goodbye to the cat, and Mo drove them back to Lihue where Joe had no trouble changing his flight. "Fun day," he said as they parted in Honolulu. "Bye, Joe." She smiled. "I'll call you." She lifted a hand in acknowledgment. Thanks for the warmth and commitment, he thought. He had given up chasing women some time after Sally and before Ingrid.
"I had a card from Auckland in August," Kate said. "Sounded like he was having a good trip." "How's your mom doing? "Fine. She's got a new job working for a mineral exploration outfit. Have you seen Ingrid?" "Not recently," Joe said. "She's doing well, at least she was the last time I saw her. She's been selling her jewelry, and her classes keep her busy. Same as ever. She has a new boyfriend."
Perhaps it was the habit of being coupled that was pushing him in Mo's direction. She wasn't as natural as Sally, his first wife, or as cheerful as Ingrid; she was more independent, focused, more like him in some ways. Too bad about her child that explained some of the seriousness in her face. She wasn't bowled over by the great Joe Burke, but she was interested.
Word Of The Day