Keeping busy during the summer

[Eden Jones]

Eden laughed. "My recipes are from my grandma, and not only has she won some baking awards, she's pretty darn feisty. Those old ladies can bring it.

"You grew up nearby, didn't you? Have you spent much time in Whisper Hill before?"

At Brett's approach, she turns her head and grins broadly, but doesn't let go of the ladder. "Hey, there! How's my favorite conspiracy theorist?"

[ronfiction]

Lou gave Brett a wave and then quickly grabbed for the side of the building, almost forgetting that he needed to keep hold or he might fall. He purges some more gutter gunk and gives Eden a nod.

"Yeah, just down the road in Berlin. It's on the other side of the county so far... but not far... distances are strange around these parts as you may know."

Lou begins to explain and motions for Brett to come over and join them as he climbs down from the ladder.

"Spent my whole life up here in Coos county. It's home. Whisper Hill however is kinda a spot on that. It's kinda that town the rest of the county rags on. Cousins getting married and no one finishing high school and stuff like that."

He says and gets to the bottom of the ladder and takes off his gloves.

"Not that I can really get in on that not finishing school thing. Would be the pot telling the kettle it's black. But anyways, always knew this place was here, just... Never needed or wanted to come."

Lou said in a rather distant voice as he looked out into the woods for a moment. After a short thought he shrugged some and looked back to Eden.

"You said you have relatives in the area. You also from around here?"

[Brett]

He looks to raise a finger, quietly beginning the schpeel rehearsed so often of how he wasn't a theorist, that these were truths that now came to life and... ahhh screw it, he didn't have to defend himself here.

"Staying young and beautiful, decided to at least try and enjoy the sunlight for a change. The night shift's home but enough coffee should keep me regulated. How you two doing?"

He looked over at the static crackling radio for a moment before approaching it.

"You know there's a trick to getting WZON out here, let me take a whack at it...

He fiddled with the nobs and angled the radio just a little towards the lake, a moment of static, a second of sound, it wasn't until the smallest piece of tin foil was torn from his liner and wrapped around the end of the antenna did "Take on me" play clearly about half-way through the song.

"There we go!"

[Eden Jones]

When Brett got the radio working, Eden gave him a thumbs up. "Nice work!"

Turning to Lou, she shook her head. "Not exactly. My father's side of the family lives in the next town over in Pittsburg. I've spent some time there, including an entire summer when I was 10 years old, but I grew up in Virginia and DC."

She laughed softly to herself, something in her expression hinting at a memory. "Everyone in the family told me and my brother not to go to Whisper Hill because of the 'bad elements' that were supposedly here. Heck, they didn't even want us leaving my grandfather's yard. We were used to running wild through the woods at my maternal grandmother's house, so we chafed pretty hard at those restrictions. One day I decided I'd had enough and snuck out, which is how I met Mr. Trumble. Brett, you met him, didn't you?"

Eden grinned, but there was a wistfulness in her smile. "I was much more of a troublemaker as a kid. I think the necessities of growing up have made me boring."

[kimp]

:: Liberty comes up the hill from down by the lake. She is lightly throwing up a ball with one hand and a throwing star with the other, catching each with the tips of her fingers before tossing them once more. Her gaze is elsewhere as she turns the corner and spots the people by the library. Stops. Looks. Tosses the ball and star a few more times, then palms them and strides up to the building ::

Eden. White Noise Brett. Guy in need of hobby.
:: She pauses, her gaze flicking up and to the left then back to stare at them and adds ::
Lou

The lake is not warm. I think it is too big to be warm for a while. Water aerobics will have to wait.
:: She stops at that, the barest twitch of a smile at one corner of her mouth ::
If you were thinking of that as a hobby, it might be better to wait for warmer weather.

How do you feel about a composed salad?
:: She tilts her head, taking in each in turn, and waits; clearly this last not being a non-sequitir but an actual question ::

[ronfiction]

Lou hears Eden's story out while he watched Brett fiddle with his radio. Once he got it working he gave him an approving nod. When Liberty approached he gave her the same nod in greeting he gave Brett when he arrived and shrugged off Liberty's suggestion about his lacking of hobbies. He collapsed the the ladder he was using and leaned it up against the side of the building.

"If you're waiting for anything to get warm around here you're doing it wrong. You folks all signed up for short summers and long winters by coming to Coos county."

Lou said and let the comment hang in the air for a moment. He knew why some of the new comers had arrived in the region, but Lou still hadn't gotten all their stories and as far as he could tell, they were little more than tourist.

"Eden, you might get it. After running around in the woods, or doing a hard days worth of work. You don't want a luke-warm lake anyways. A nice blast of cold water is just the thing to cool ya off. Also, if you're looking to take home the blue ribbon around these parts, you're gonna need to bring more than a salad."

He said with a laugh.

"But, I can't give ya too hard a time for it. I can cook worth a damn, I stick to other things."

He said and gave the ladder a tap with his foot.

[Eden Jones]

Eden nodded at Lou. "Yeah, there's nothing like the shock of cold water on a hot, sweaty day. It's amazing. Wakes you right up."

She stepped inside the library briefly and came out with a broom, then started briskly sweeping the gutter gunk off the porch. Eden hoped that Lou would take the opportunity to sit down and relax for a few minutes, but even though she didn't know him that well yet she had her doubts about such a thing actually happening.

As she swept, she turned to Liberty and grinned, "I prefer my salads to be thoroughly discombobulated, if you must know.

"In all seriousness, I have no idea what a composed salad is, but I'm curious, Please tell."

[kimp]

:: Liberty gives Lou a long, steady look. After an extended silence she says ::
Why would I want a blue ribbon?
:: Another pause, then ::
Besides it being blue...
:: Her eyes narrow and she looks off into space for a moment ::
I never made that connection.
:: With that, she focuses on Lou once more ::
I suppose if I wanted a ribbon it would need to be blue. Otherwise I might...
:: There is a slight hiccup in the sentence as she blinks :: clash.
:: Her mouth twitches upwards in a very quick, awkward not-smile that almost immediately drops from her face ::
Colors intermingling is bad.

:: With that she goes over to the built-in benches on the porch and sits, conspicuously selecting the end that butts up against the wall to place her back against before stretching out her legs along the bench. Her eyes track Lou and Eden's movements, place Brett. After a moment she focuses on Eden ::
Discombobulated. Good one.
:: After acknowledging the lead, she adds ::
A composed salad is one where the ingredients are laid out in a neat and symmetric pattern and then drizzled with a vinaigrette. It requires a lot of knife work. I was thinking about a salade nicoise.
:: There is a short pause, then she adds ::
For the potentially eco-terrorist overrun picnic.

Will all of you be there?

[ronfiction]

Lou took a small measure of comfort knowing that he wasn't the only one worried about the picnic being set on by the Eco-terrorists. Maybe he was actually on to something. He considered who it was who shared his concern and then back tracked some in his comfort.

"I'll be there. See if they need help setting up or cleaning up. Maybe even relax a little for once."

He says and watches Eden clean some. He fights the urge to help her clean and instead moves back over to the food he had out for his lunch. He lowers the volume on the radio that Brett had fixed for him and takes a seat at the table.

"You gonna provide some tunes for the picnic Brett?"

[Eden Jones]

Eden ducked her head briefly to hide her grin when Lou sat down. It would do him good to take a break now and then.

"A composed salad sounds good, Blue. I'll be bringing some kind of dessert, or maybe multiple desserts if I have the time. Gus has put in a request for key lime cupcakes, but I might want to try something new.

"I should get in touch with Dallas to see if she still wants to help plan some activities. As for the Gaia's Rainbow-Hugging Whatsits, I very much hope they don't show up, but it can't hurt to be prepared, just in case. Maybe I'll ask Mason to take point on that, it's more his wheelhouse than mine.

"Brett, are you planning to bring something? Or are you going to provide auditory entertainment, per Lou's suggestion?"