Long Burn

Weekend update

Fredrik was playing a game called 'shark' at the school playground that involved putting snow on the slide so you went down really fast, and then the shark should break in between two other kids who are holding onto each other. We didn't get all the details. But after he had been home from school for a couple of hours he happened to mention that he had broken a tooth-- top right incisor, all the way across. So the next morning we went to 'folktandv?rden' (public tooth care) at 7.30 in the morning-- all kids in Sweden get free dental care. By 8.15 it was fixed with a nice white cap-- impossible to see. Sweden does some things right.

Anders will surprise us by talking sometimes, saying things like 'no banana' or 'Fredrik.' He has reached the stage where his complete and focused goal in life is to climb onto a chair or couch and stand up. Very dangerous. Keeps us on our toes.

Over Christmas we put a sheaf of oats on a stake outside the kitchen window. It was a big hit with the birds, and looking out the window is a nice alternative to looking at dirty dishes. So I looked out this weekend and there was a brown furry critter climbing in the sheaf, eating the seeds. What the heck? Not a squirrel. Too big to be a mouse-- yech, a rat! We think it is living in our neighbor's woodpile. A lá Caddyshack, I have started a campaign to get rid of the rat, and it does not involve piping. Reminds me of my days as a student in St. Paul when I discovered bite marks in a bar of soap by the basement sink of our house on Selby Avenue. The subsequent hunt is the only event in my life that has been immortalized by a poem, due to dear friend Eldon Potter:

Tim and Matt
killed a rat
smashed it flat
dead rat.

posted by Matt_J @ 10:18 AM