Takin' a Break
When I woke up today, it was already hot as blazes in my room. It seemed that July was making its presence known in a fiery way, and the thought of working around the ranch made my stomach lurch. I washed up, shaved and dressed quickly then headed downstairs for my morning coffee. I wasn't sure I'd be able to eat a thing due to the heat.
Hop Sing must of have heard me coming as he set the coffee pot on the table with a cup and saucer just as I got there. He tried to smile but I could see the heat had gotten to him too. As I sipped my coffee it suddenly hit me no one else had come down for breakfast.
"Hop Sing?"
"You ready to eat now Mr. Adam?"
"Uh, maybe just some eggs and toast. Where is everyone else? Pa said we had a lot to do today."
Our venerable cook shook his head, almost sadly. "Nobody eat much today. Too hot. All go to do chores then Mr. Cartwright say he be back when you get up. I go fix your eggs and toast now."
The rest of my questions went unanswered as Hop Sing disappeared back into the kitchen. When he returned with the food I ate quickly, thanked him and headed to the barn for my chores. Arriving there I found Hoss and Joe working very slowly on the stalls. In truth, you couldn't do much more as hot as it was. I picked up a pitch fork and started moving the dirty straw out of the barn. No one spoke, we just smiled from time to time and worked.
An hour later my brothers and I sat in the shade of the porch waiting for Pa to return from town. Seems he told Hoss and Joe he had changed plans for today and we were to await his arrival. Soon enough, he rode in on the buckboard with several crates in the back. We all had questions but he refused to answer any of them; just instructing us to unload them into the barn.
About that time Hop Sing trotted out carrying two large baskets. He smiled at Pa and Pa nodded his thanks, placing the baskets behind the seat.
"Climb in boys, we're going for a little ride."
I looked at my brothers and they at me, all of us wondering if the heat had finally gotten to Pa. We just shrugged and climbed in. A short while later we were settled at the lake, the baskets and some blankets spread out under a big shade tree and all of us taking some dips in the cold water of Lake Tahoe. Near lunch time Hoss and Joe set off to find some fish to go with Hop Sing's fried chicken and ham. Pa and I watched from the comfort of the shade to see what would happen with both brothers fishing at the same time.
Well, after about a half hour Joe let out big "WHOOP" and held up a good-sized fish. His grin said it all. I glanced over at Hoss who had turned to see what Joe had done. The scowl on my bigger brother's face was not a good sign.
"Joseph, would ya keep it down! Yer scarin' the fish with all yer commotion!" Hoss turned back to his pole with a studious look, almost willing the fish to jump right into his lap. Pa chuckled and grabbed some more bread to eat.
An hour later we feasted on four large fish, the biggest, and only one, caught by Hoss, the other three caught by our little brother. As my brothers and I took another cool dip in the lake Pa brought out his pipe and leaned against the tree to watch. When I arrived back at the blanket, Pa looked mighty frustrated.
"Pa, you okay?"
He grumbled, put his pipe stem in his mouth and blew. Instead of sweet smelling smoke, a series of bubbles came out. I did my best not to laugh but couldn't hold back. Joe and Hoss came running to see what had happened and soon all four of us were laughing so hard we had tears. It seemed a child that stayed with us a week ago had gotten hold of his pipe and well, left some soap in it. The more Pa blew, the more we laughed and batted at the bubbles in the air.
As the sun began to set we headed home and put everything away. Hop Sing had gone to town to visit with his cousins but had come back in time to fix a light dinner for us.
After dinner Pa told us it was time to open the crates. We moved them to the middle of the yard and pried the tops off. Joe and Hoss were jumping for joy and I couldn't help but grin - Pa had bought fireworks. Hoss and Joe set them up and with the help of some ranch hands we lit them and watched as they filled the night sky with all sorts of colors and lights. One particular bunch got lit with some others and suddenly fireworks were going off in every direction. We all dove for cover, me behind the post at the edge of the porch. I leaned out and watched the colors and sparkles dance in the night sky. It was the best ending to a wonderful summer's day with my family.