May
8
“Hey Mom? Hey Mom? Guess what. I know how to make a rainbow. All you need is a flashlight and a … and a fish tube. And then you take the flashlight and you turn it on and you shine it in the tube and that’s how you make a rainbow.”
***
“Mom? Mom? Mom? Mom? Mom? Mom? Mom? Mom? Mom? Mom? Mom? Mom?”
“What, Dylan.”
“Eggplant comes from putting chickens in the ground, right?”
*distractedly* “Mmm-hmmm.”
*beat*
“Wait. Wait, no, that’s — uh, no. Eggplant is a vegetable.”
“But you SAID.”
***
“Mom? If a bull fought a moose who would win?”
“Um, well –”
“I THINK MOOSE.”
“Okay, you’re probably –”
“But maybe a bull.”
“Sure.”
“Mom? If a whale fought a shark who would win?”
“Oh, maybe the —
“I THINK SHARK.”
***
“Mom, is it tomorrow?”
“No, it’s today.”
“Oh, you mean it’s yesterday.”
“No! I mean, well, okay, so today is –”
“Soon it will be next week.”
***
“Mom? When I was a baby was I in your tummy?”
“Yup, you sure were.”
“Did you put me there?”
“Ah, um. Well, you grew there. Like a seed.”
“So you didn’t roll me up into a ball and squish me in there?”
“…. no.”
“Mom? When I’m in kindergarten Riley will be younger than me right?”
“No, he’ll –”
“Oh I mean older than me.”
“Right.”
“Do you like cows?”
“Cows? Well –”
“My favorite favorite favorite ice cream is chocolate, did you know that?”
“Yes, I –”
“So where did the seed come from?”
***
“Hey Mom? I never seen a leprechaun, never.”
“Right.”
“But Mom? Mom? I do know how to make a rainbow.”
“Yes.”
“You take a fish tube …”
Apr
28
For years I’ve wanted to take the kids to Wildlife Safari, but it’s just far enough south that it never made sense to try and pack it into a trip from Seattle. Someday when we live closer, I used to think, a little morosely. Was I sad about not being within easy driving distance of what was surely an overpriced, cheesy operation filled with depressed animals pacing restless circles in their horrible enclosures which were roiling with exhaust fumes and peppered with junk food thrown from car windows? Yes I was, dammit.
It took us a year, but we finally made a trip of it this weekend — and as it turns out, Wildlife Safari isn’t depressing at all. It’s actually pretty goddamned great: filled with contented-looking beasts, beautifully located in a pocket of Eden-like greenery among southern Oregon’s gorgeous rolling hills, and at $60 for the four of us, not a bad deal considering we spent at least a couple of satisfying hours there.
We stayed the night in Roseburg just to make the visit last longer, and found a place on the Umpqua to play during Saturday’s summery weather.
Everything about this weekend — the pretty drive, the fun of exploring a new town, the delight on the kids’ faces when they saw the animals, even the tumble and chaos of sharing a hotel room — was perfect. The sort of memories I wish I could flatten between the pages of a book, run my finger over them years from now and remember everything exactly as it was.
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