muni rat

i know i should be sleeping!

today we went to julia's for a little birthday cake and ice cream. it has been a wonderful yet hard few days with cassie kaveh and the kids visiting. miles reflected his mother's feelings at our sleepover last night when he said tearily "if cassie isn't here in the morning i'm going to be really sad." so, tired, and trying to think green, i took the 2 kids on the 33 bus across the mission. this is a nice electric bus which crosses a lot of terrain, and almost always provides a surprise event of some sort.

as soon as we sat down a group of very hard luck folks got on by sf general, and a youngish guy with an old mouth (he later revealed he had no teeth because he didn't brush when his parents told him to, and gently told miles and maya they should brush a LOT. he was only 27 and completely toothless, though things other thatn not brushing can make this happen), ponytail, and dirty clothes smiled back at maya's hello and sat down in front of us. and then...a rat climbed out of his big grungy jacket. my son sleeps with a stuffed rat at night,and asks a lot of questions about them. just that morning he had asked about where rats live, and what would we do if a rat was in our house, and where would the rat catcher take him to release him from the humane trap he would set (i am telling more lies lately after the charlotte's web deal). this man was so sweet and gentle and i just went with my instinct and trusted him, gums and drug clinic look and all, as he offered to let miles hold the rat. miles was just overjoyed. the rat's name was friend, but nicknamed dino. he sat on miles lap and cleaned himself, and licked miles' fingers a little bit, and was generally a nice calm furry rat, as the man answered questions and supplied a little bit of crazy information but mostly good and certainly nothing bad. right before our stop at 18th and mission miles asked what was that and it was two little rat poops on his seat. that's rat poop said the owner, finding a scrap of paper on the floor with which to wipe it up, and it is a good thing because it means that he was comfortable sitting on you. he really likes you.

so am i losing all perspective to feel warmhearted about this unique encounter? it certainly made my son happy, and somehow me too. it made me glad i took the bus instead of driving. it erased a few points of suburb envy i have been accumulating lately from hanging out with my newly suburban friend and family.we went to julia's and washed our hands well and sang ate cake from tartin (sp?) and ice cream and watched the kiddos play sleep on a truck bed and put out a fire with tennis rackets. nothing happened on the way home because i risked our lives and we sat carseatless in the back of rebecca's city car share.

justine, if you are reading this, long live ratty!
now it is time to lie down and try to sleep.
bye