Sweet, Dog, Spit
My first friend was — is — Charles. An early memory: he and I are walking up a hill in our neighborhood, and we’re spitting every few steps. It was a cool habit we’d picked up very intentionally from another friend at elementary school named Scott.
“Soon,” Charles said, “the whole world is going to be full of our spit and Scott’s spit.”
Another memory: I admired how two cousins threw around interjections. At the time, of course, I didn’t know the definition of “interjection” … but I sure liked how they included “Sweet!” or “Dog!” in most of their sentences.
I’m reminded of these memories today … as S and I toured Kuala Lumpur with our boys, all of us partially reeling from jet lag. The boys were testy. They were gross. They were loud, boisterous. They were occasionally disobedient, occasionally frustrating. There were a few inappropriate interjections, followed by shared hilarity. We whipped around from strong discipline moments … to hours and hours of family togetherness at a SCIENCE EXHIBIT that enthralled them!
The photo above was taken at a Japanese sushi restaurant in an upscale Malaysian mall. Minutes after one of my oldest two sons tried to horse down his first piece of sushi (crab meat, salmon, and mango) … he kindly brought it back to the busy restaurant by returning it to his plate unsuccessfully swallowed.
Were we applied on all cylinders today? Did we hear any Echoes? I don’t know … but I’m convinced — after some time to reflect in a quiet room — that frustrating days are just as important as other days on this journey.
After all, my two eldest sons jumped at the chance to join me for sushi tonight because, in their words, they wanted to come “for the experience.”
Sweet.
We continue to thoroughly enjoy being part of your blogs- marveling at all of your experiences. Much love – Aunt Sue and Uncle Andy.
PS Your car is resting peacefully in the car port and makes the rounds of the neighborhood on a regular basis.