It was insanely hot today. I know its the tropics and its suppose to be hot, but dang, pushing that double stroller up the volcano was way harder than usual. Aside from the heat and over-exertion, it was a pleasant walk. The girls are staying awake for longer periods in the stroller as time goes on. I steered them towards interesting things and gave a little commentary, pointing out goats and thimbleberries. Mmmmm, thimbleberries are goood. They look like raspberries, but a brighter, more vivid red. They grow in neglected places, on the side of the road and such. Somebody told me they’re a weed, and can’t be bought at garden stores. It for the best, I think. Wild things always taste better.
When you live on a tropical island, there are always exotic fruits dropping everywhere: avocados, guava, passion fruit, mango, coconut, mountain apple, pineapple, apple bananas, papayas, rambutan, breadfruit, and a million more I’ve forgotten. You can’t go for a walk without seeing something yummy. Some people, Jungledad for instance, take it a step further and insist on sampling everything they see on the daily constitutional. This would be fine if he were picking these fruits off the trees. He’s not. No matter how many fragrant fruits sway seductively in the tropical breeze, he is enticed only by fruits that have fallen to the ground, preferably those that have rotted for days.
Irregardless of how many times it happens, I’m always shocked to see him pick up a sorry looking half rotted thing that might have once been a fruit, and take a big bite out of it. He is equally shocked, not because he’s eating rotten fruit from the dirty ground, but because it doesn’t taste good. Usually he spits out what he bites. I can’t say I’m surprised. If it tastes half as bad as it looks it must be pretty nasty. Still, he keeps doing it, this strange pica-esque obsession.
I miss Jungledad, even his weird rotten fruit eating behaviors. He’s coming home tomorrow to be reunited with a his females like a big ole lion returning to the pride. I bet he’ll be delighted with how much the girls have learned while he was away. Its only been a week, but babies absorb things so quickly. Mumu and Lulu can stand now, holding on to the couch. It doesn’t sound like much, but its amazing. They do more, and respond to more, every day. Maybe Mumu and Lulu will yell “thimbleberry!” at Jungledad the second he walks through the door. It would be a big jump from “agoo” and “heeeeeey,” admittedly, but they’re junglebabies, jungletwins even, and sky’s the limit.
