A Road Less Travelled

Have I ever told the tale of the Burning Plum? No? Well, the story of the Burning Plum started when Theresa was looking for a paint color to go in their new living room that would not clash with the fireplace tiles. The color she eventually decided upon is called Burnt Plum. We spend many long days painting and I wonder if the fumes got a little strong and we eventually decided that every home needed a burning plum and we asked what would happen if the plum went out? We got much sillier than that, but you don’t need to know all the details. Then someone, I don’t remember who, thought it would be great if we could get the Lansberrys a painting of a burning plum. I asked if I could have the paint swatch (Theresa didn’t think this was at all strange behavior for me), we sent it to my sister who recently took up painting and she sent us a painting of a burning plum. We put it in the Lansberry house while they were on their trip and when they came back they were most surprised. Theresa then told us that we were going to have a Burning Plum party in celebration of the new house, the perfect color and friendship. So last night we, they and some other people gathered and ate very good food and drank very excellent wine. We made fun of me for a slip of the tongue, discussed the relative methods of procurring more lasagna for Raquel, talked about deadlines and punctuation and I kept insisting that Raquel did not make marshmellows because marshmellows come from the store. The rest of the conversation was somewhat less normal. For dessert Theresa made a plum and cherry sauce to go over ice cream. She doused it in brandy and we all watched while she lit it on fire. I have never seen someone spoon fire into a bowl of ice cream. It was most cool and it never got old. Seth kept putting more brandy on his ice cream and lighting it on fire. The children thought flaming dessert was the highlight of the evening. After dessert we gathered in the Burnt Plum living room and told stories about burning plums. Raquel told a story about the Burning Plum that hung over a family’s dining room table and how, when the plum went out, the son had to rescue his father who was held prisoner by an evil wizard. Seth told three stories and one of them was even serious. I told a fairy tale about a prince who inherited a living castle from his father and how, because he was proud and arrogant, the burning plum that is the heart of every living home went out. He had to quest to find the perfect flame to rekindle the plum or his castle would die. James told a story that almost made everyone cry about a young man who’s home was dark until a young lady entered it and the plum in his chandelier began to burn. He told about the good times when the plum burnt strong and bright. He told about the sad times when a baby had died and how the plum almost went out. He told about the end of the man’s life and how he could see the light of the plum for what it was. It was love. Some of the children even told stories though they tended to mumble and their stories tended to wander. Maybe next year they’ll do better. Theresa told a tale that I can readily believe to be the definitive story of the Burning Plum. It was about the family Blessed and their home overlooking the Chasm of Insanity. It was about the friendship between the family Blessed and the family Laughter and about the goodness of the All Beautiful Creator. All in all it was a grand evening and I am looking forward to next year when we can do it again.