Our kids haven’t stopped asking about Mango, our fish, since Ali gave it away back in Mexico before we left last time. Six months and somehow their little heads have retained the memory of a one-inch beta fish named after a fruit. Ali secretly loved the fish too, so recently she decided that Mango would magically reappear. She snuck off yesterday and returned from the pet store—err, I mean the Post Office—with Mango the giant beta.
We told the kids that our friends in Mexico mailed Mango back to us, and oh my, look how she has grown!
It’s so much fun telling kids stories like this. We asked Mango how she enjoyed flying for the first time, and what exactly she’d been eating down there in Mazatlan, and then we promised her that we wouldn’t leave her behind next time.
Then this morning we were sitting at the breakfast table when Ali shrieked, “Oh my god, her tooth is falling out!” She was referring to Ouest, who is maybe a day away from losing a front bottom tooth. Just yesterday I was helping brush her teeth and I noticed the crooked tooth and thought to myself how interesting it was that she has the same crooked tooth that I have. Now I realize that the tooth was actually just dangling there. Honestly, I can’t believe that Ouest didn’t even mention this until today. The thing must have been loose for a week or two considering how close it is to falling.
Anyway, we all cheered for her and made a big deal about what a momentous occasion this is for her. She smiled about it, seemingly excited, but then she got quiet, her lip started to quiver, and the tears piled up on her cheek. She rallied quickly though, and talk soon turned to the Tooth Fairy.
We gave her the lowdown on that fairy character and after mulling it over for a bit she asked me, “Papa, are you sure the Tooth Fairy is real?” I told her anything can be real if you believe in it, which I thought was a good enough answer. She let me slide, but had a lot of skeptical sounding questions about how the whole fairy operation worked. The girl is no dummy. I have a feeling we may have to come clean before this is through.
In an effort to simply knock the tooth out, we all went ice-skating. This was Lowe’s first time out. He had fun, and did pretty well, though he mostly preferred to have me grab him under the armpits and just fly around the rink. “Faster, Papa, faster.”
Ouest ripped it up. This was her third time on ice, and honestly I was pretty blown away by how good she is. She was flying around the rink. I remember learning to skate at six, and I was terrible. I certainly wasn’t motoring around the rink by hour three. She could have spent the whole day there.
Yes, Mango flew by herself in that tightly sealed plastic bag. And yes, she grew to be ten times her original size. And yes, she is actually a he.
I like this garage. This neighborhood is full of old school garages. I think the world needs a Portland Garages coffee table book.
13 Comments on “Miracles”
Ouest sounds like she has intellectual capacity well beyond her
years! At her age i definitely would not have questioned if the
tooth fairy was real or not! I’d have taken it all in as scripture! 🙂
I agree about the coffee table book about Portland garages. We were in the Brooklyn neighborhood yesterday waiting for a decent hour to go the The Lamp to wait for the Rodney Crowell show to start at the Aladdin. We were wandering around, killing time and walked by tons of teeny little one-Model-T sized garages. All so cool. If the sun shone more often in Portland, we’d have liked to convert one into a tiny place to live.
Agree completely. We’ve got friends who’ve done just that. They now rent out the main house instead.
Pat, your pics could comprise lots of coffee table books. You could have the Bumfuzzle collection.
I guess you could tell the kids the Tooth Fairy is a wonderful Customer Service Rep. as well, and is the one who flew Mango up from Mexico!! – Cheers
Ice skating at Lloyd Center? Looks like it. Wonderful childhood memories for me! Remind me what neighborhood your Mom lives in. Lots of your pictures remind me of the Grant Park neighborhood.
Not Grant Park, but we can walk there from here. Love these NE neighborhoods.
Skating looks like a blast–was it a carryover from the “Snow Movie Party”?
I enjoyed the garage/car photos. The beetle reminds me of my first car, a red 1966 VW beetle with a sun roof. By the time I bought it in the late 1970s is was so oxidized it never looked that shiny, even after waxing.
You should be making your own coffee table book.
I love that so many people in Portland have these old cars that they actually drive. Definitely part of the culture around here.
I remember when we rented skates as kids. They were always the flimsy figure skates that offered painfully little ankle support. Then one day I borrowed a friends hockey skates and OMG. It was like I new what I was doing suddenly. I could wizz around, spray my friends and act cool! Isn’t it funny how kids can live with a dangling tooth for so long without comment! So funny. Thanks for all your great posts. Cheers
I just got back from Summer Lake Hot Springs. With the photo of the little white church, I know you passed by, did you not stop for a soak? I forgot to ask Duane and Patty..If you didn’t you missed some nice hot water..
David
We couldn’t keep track of all the hot springs recommendations. Plus, we just weren’t in a naked male stranger mood that day. 🙂
Check out Summer Lake Hot Springs website..After reading all your posts I think it’s a place you would have enjoyed. The owner is cool..A nice person..and you don’t have to worry about male strangers..or females.
It was on the right side 20 miles b/4 the church with old trailers a person can rent for the night or R.V hook-ups. They always have given me a great price…Anyways keep it in mind when you head South..
David