June 18, 2003

• Great Moments in Family History

  Years ago, when Greyfox was new to our family–just visiting, actually, even before he was part of the family–and new to Alaska, Doug and I, in the course of our ordinary mother-son interaction, provided Greyfox with a memorable moment and a quote from me that is now part of our family history.

  For Doug and me, the moment came and went without notice.  I was not aware of the impact it had on Greyfox until much later, when I was present as he told the story to someone else.  Not much of a story really.  When he visited us, the “guesthouse” in which we put him up was a pickup camper parked in the yard.  Next to the cab-over bunk was a pair of bench seats flanking a table that could be lowered onto the benches to bridge the gap between them, and padded to make an extra bed.

  I kept my chainsaw stowed under that table.  The three of us were sitting on the benches, Greyfox and I on one side, Doug (nine years old at the time) facing us from the opposite bench.  With his bare toes he was gripping the saw chain and turning it.  Thinking both of the internal mechanical parts and of a destructive interaction of cutting edges and bare toes, I uttered an offhand, “Doug, stop playing with the chainsaw,” and went on with whatever we’d been discussing.  Since the rattles and clanks ceased and I could tell he had obeyed, I gave it not another thought.

  Greyfox is a horror movie fan.  Where I see a chainsaw as a handy survival tool, he sees it as a bizarre murder weapon.  He says he had not noticed the chainsaw there in his temporary quarters, but had been wondering about the clanks and tinks coming from under the table, too polite to ask.  I would find that hard to believe, if I did not know him so well.  He could miss noticing an elephant in the living room, I think.   Even if he did see it, if it did not seem proper for him to take notice, he would at least pretend it wasn’t there.

  I was reminded of that incident this morning.  Doug was showing me several new cat images he had downloaded from some Japanese sites.  Our shared love of cats verges on awe and originates for us in ancient Egypt.  Our wallpaper is more often some cute cat or kitten than any other image, and it is usually something Doug has found and downloaded.

  He had flipped through half a dozen adorable images, and we were laughing at the one above, when he asked, “Did I show you Hello Cthulhu yet?”

  I answered that I didn’t think he had; that name didn’t ring a bell… so the furry little pirates vanished from the screen and this came up:

  I gasped in surprise, then giggled in delight until I was gasping for breath.  Standing there leaning on Doug’s shoulder, I knew that, “Did I show you Hello Cthulhu yet?” is going into the family history book along with, “Stop playing with the chainsaw.”  I can hardly wait until Greyfox sees it.

  

  • 2:28 pm
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