The tooth!!

Today I went outside to feed the dogs.. then sat down under the tree and was hugging my knees and enjoying the birds  flitting down to peck at the crumbs and seeds I leave for them, and my hand was casually  brushing on the lawn and  suddwenly - my fingers touched an unfamiliar object. I picked it up, and ... OMG! it was a  human tooth! A big front tooth - with a long pointy root. I dropped it SO fast and scrambled to my  feet. I  backed away, calling Brandy to come follow me, and scampered into the house,  my heart pounding!  When I had calmed down and  poured myself a coffee, I began to wonder about  the  tooth (which I had left on the lawn next to the seed bag. )
"Was it  from a body that one of the dogs had dug up?"
(Surely not!!)
"Was it a muti  warning from a wicked  witch doctor?"
(Eeeeeeeeeek..possible??)
I decided I had to go and retrieve the tooth.
I swallowed the coffee, and  put on my "brave face"!
I slipped on the surgical gloves I had bought to cover the infected toe I had last year (another story) and made myself think  like a forensic scientist/policeman from CSI.
I crept up to  the scene of the 'crime' and  picked up the tooth - eerily clean as I noted.  The owner had brushed his or her  teeth. I was beginning to believe I was a real detetctive by now...
I put it in a Zip Lock bag and brought it into the kitchen.
I was not at all sure what to do next.
Just then Flora came in, from the back yard.
I had a thought!
AHA!!!

"OPEN YOUR MOUTH!!" I said!
She was suitably startled.
"Huh??"

"Flor.. smile for me! A big smile! I want to see your teeth!"
(and I added meekly)
"Please?"
Her eyes blinked.. and then with a slight shake of her head as if to say,
"Crazy white woman  and why is she wearing those GLOVES?"
So she beamed  - or sort of glared at me - flashing intact top teeth.
I sighed.
It was not Flora.s tooth.. so whose WAS it?
"Thanks Flor..."
I turned to walk away. I didn't want to scare her and show her the tooth.
What if she freaked out and left me for good, fearing the owner of the tooth was a dreaded tokolosh?

"Why  did you need me to smile, Gill?"

She was standing, hands on hips, head shaking side to side..
I decided to share my discovery.
"Flor...look what  I found.. on the lawn..."

 I slipped the  white white tooth out of the  Zip Lock bag  and  onto my gloved palm, and showed her.
She stared.
"That's teeth!!" she said finally.
"TOOTH!! ..one tooth..." I said
"I found it.. on the lawn..."

My voice trailed off..
She stared at it, and then looked at me her eyes twinkling.
"You thought  one of my teeth came out so I put it in the garden?"

I shook my head and stammered
"Noooooo... of course not.. I..."

She laughed!

"That FRANK!~"
she hissed at me - finger wagging.

"He was complaining yesterday ALL day.. ow ow owww  "
(she held her jaw in both hands and rocked)

"He pulled his tooth out, I see. But why didn't he throw it in the  rubbish bin?  Hau!!"

And she stomped off, talking to herself in her language.
I sat down and slowly took it all in.
Frank is our weekly gardener. The shiny  white front tooth belonged to Frank - a lovely man, who cared for my plants and trees as if he were their father.
It was Frank's tooth, and not  the remnant of some rotting cadaver! 
 There was no tokolosh..
I can't wait to see him on Thursday and say to him,
 "SMILE!!!!!! I WANT TO SEE YOUR GAP!"

Touch My Soul..a taste for yummy grand children

Nikki’s suggestion.. An afternoon at a park near the Zoo Lake! Sounded GREAT! I slipped into capris and a T shirt and slip slops and went to meet her. Naturally she was late.. so I sat alone on the vast lawns and tucked into a packet of salt and vinegar crisps and sucked on a bottle of mineral water. About 1000 pigeons arrived and as Nikki drew up she saw me surrounded.  I wonder if she thought that I was in a scene from the Hitchcock movie! Avishai came running to meet me and off we ran to the slides and swings ladders and tyres which led to platforms which led to higher ones. I was NOT happy but the little guy knows his limitations so he went halfway before commanding me, “DOWN!” Nikki and Daniella settled on a bench and I went to swop places. Avishai went up a long ramp. UP and I mean  8ft UP and Nikki in a long skirt climbed after him. I saw two faces beaming at me from what looked like the Empire State Building. ”MOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMYYYYYYYY!” Oh Lord… ” Mom , we’re kinda.. stuck!” Now I had a 22 month old and his mom so high up a damn ramp. What to do? But Avishai showed his Mom how to reverse, and thankfully they arrived on terra firma in one piece! We leave the playground (YAY) and head for the lake (OY) where he either (A) runs for the water or (B) heads for the road. ”Bricks!”  I command, showing him the path. ”We only walk on bricks!” Well, of course he doesn’t and I lose kilos charging and skidding down to the water or rolling after him down the hill which borders the busy road! Finally he gets tired.. and thumbs a lift in Daniella’s pram. PHEW! We decide the sky is ominous and Nikki and me would kill for tea. So we leave and head home. She takes Daniella and I take Avishai. On the way,  I teach him a new song. ”I have a little bicycle I ride it to the shop And when I see the big red sign I know I have to STOP” He loves it. We get home and have tea and biscuits and I say to Nikki ”Listen!?” ”I have a little (he sings BICYCLE) I ride it to the (he says SHOP) And when I see the big red sign I know I have to ( He sings A BOOM)” NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!   We definitely do NOT want to go “A BOOM!” He asks for Barney  - his favourite video.  I say ok.  Nikki says NO. (she’s anal about too much telly)  so he and I go water the garden which he loves. But he waters not only the garden. He washes both dogs and also my entrance hall! Flora is NOT amused. And then it’s change clothes and home time. ”Bye Ganny,  I LU LOO” What more special than that???

Touch My Soul.. a taste for the ocean

When I was a child growing up in land locked Zimbabwe, the craving for a seaside holiday was always overwhelming. Once a year – for 3 precious weeks – our family would motor down to Durban, in what was then Natal and is now Kwa Zulu Natal, and every possible moment was spent on the beach and more importantly, in the water. When it was time to go home, I went into a down-spin child-depression, which we called sadness. How come kids get to be sad and adults get to be depressed?  I would pack my clothes and my collection of sea shells and my swimsuits (called “cozzies”) into my suitcase, and always made sure that the cozies were not rinsed out. This was because when we were back in Zimbabwe, and I was missing the ocean, I would take out a cozzie from its hibernation and suck it, tasting the salt residue and shutting my eyes I would re live a swim in the ocean.

I am not a child any longer although sometimes I confess to feeling as though I am truly into my 2^nd childhood. But I have carried through some of my childhood habits, one being the urgent deep need to hold onto something precious and re live memories. Thus – when I left Israel, I brought with a beautifully shaped piece of rock I found in the sea when I was swimming at the beach in Herzliya, and  from Ft Lauderdale,  a grey T shirt that I had worn the last time I rocked baby  Brandon, unwashed  and scented with his special baby aroma.  Like the cozzies – this grey T shirt will remain as is. I shan’t wash it, and when I miss him and our cuddle sessions, I will simply cuddle the T shirt and try to recreate that special time.