Once in a very blue moon, dad would get us Tullis boys to collaborate on a little yard work bonding.
Keep in mind that this moon I speak of is as blue as a Caribbean Sea Shore, because, you see, we have very tight waistlines to protect in our household and yard work only agitates those well deserved pounds.
On this particular day, he happened to find a loop hole in our couch surfing activities on one of the hotter days of the year.
Shirts were shed with little to no shame (as we were working in the backyard and no real threat to passer-bys).
Joe had just recently gotten his stomach tattooed proudly with the family moniker, but not so recently that we had to stop what we were doing to admire the "Old English Script". We just forged forward raking, chopping, and sweating.
From inside the house the phone rang, and as multi-duty-dad was constantly ready for, dropped his rake and headed in. Joe and I silently plodded the land, heads down and determined to rejoin the lonely remote control upon completion.
After a while, Dad joined us back a the red hot dirt pile and joined us our silent pilgrimage to complete said task at hand.
Many, many moments had passed before any of us decided to stop and wipe the sweat from furrowed brow, and best believe that first person to stop was me.
As I caught a breath and stepped back from our chore, that's when I noticed his handy work.
Within seconds I was rolling on our dusty weed pile unable to compose myself from laughter.
In the short time he had been in the house, supposedly answering the phone, he had located a Bic ballpoint pin and (rather legibly mind you) scribed "TULLIS" across his own protruding belly. This feat would have been admirable enough, but the fact that he just silently returned to our work and waited for one of us to discover his newly acquired belly tat, absolutely sent Joe and I into hysterics.
I didn't even know until that day that ballpoint pins could write through sweat and hair. I have a hard enough time getting mine to write on paper.
He was a divine man!
Ha ha ha, yay! Did Cori tell you to put this one in? I had been telling her about it and mentioned that somewhere a picture even existed! She kept reminding me to tell you and I kept forgetting. Well done! I can't believe you found the picture!
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