Mr. Fuji

Our freezer died last week. Upsetting given that it's only 5 years old and a major name brand. I'm not even sure why I bought the service plan, but I did and I'm sure glad. Even more glad that the company who repaired it actually had the part on their truck - unlike the washer (same brand, purchased same time) which has been out of service now for THREE WEEKS. Those parts (round 2) are still on order and are so large that they get shipped to your home. So the wait continues.

We lost a lot of food and are cooking and eating a lot of stuff that thawed. We are having 'smorgasborg' dinners with vast selections of food to choose from. Last night it was pork chops (the kids ate those) and fish filets (me and J.).

So the freezer is pretty much empty, which is a nice refreshing change. Only ice, ice packs and Mr. Fuji. There he was, carefully in the door where he's been since we moved. And he moved here with us from our house in Hayward - lovingly carried here by one of the boys and ceremoniously placed in this freezer to rest out eternity. He is wrapped in a printed paper towel and 'sealed' with Scotch Tape - the 'flat' kind, not the glossy kind, so it doesn't brown with age.

Mr. Fuji is a balsa-wood flat 'spoon' - the kind of flat spoon shaped utensil you get when you buy a small cup of individual serving ice cream - like from the ice cream man. He has a face drawn on him with a pen - eyes, nose and small mouth. He met his untimely death in some sort of "Mousie" war. We aren't sure how he died and when we inquire, we are met with furtive glances between the boys and a sort of hushed reverence that says 'we don't speak about this tragedy'.

The kids have played 'mousie' for as long as either J. or I can remember. The 'game' involves the boys being 'mice' - complete with the high, squeaky voices to go with the characters. There's a lot of 'fighting' in Mousie-land. Wrestling. Debates. Complex rules that only B. & H. know or understand. They don't play this game with anyone else - just the two of them. It is their own invention - and we are amused that even now, in their teens, we will frequently still hear the familiar mousie-screech words between them. They still 'play' and work out stuff using 'mousie land' as the venue. It's always been a fun game to 'watch' - how two creative, bright, fun kids invented this 'other world' that only the two of them know about. And I'm glad that they have this place that is just theirs - no adults, no adult-rules, or adult 'have-to's'. Just two boys sharing an adventure.

I have on occasion inquired of the boys if it's time to let Mr. Fuji move on to the great big 'bio-bin' where he (along w/ other lawn trimmings and branches (wood)) will be ground down and burned at the Tracy bio-mass plant. They won't hear of it. He might be 'reborn' someday to fight another day. So there he sits. Alone on a shelf. Soon to be rejoined by food, juice, etc. seeking refuge in the cold, dark freezer. I think I cherish him as much as the boys - and if he ever is 'let go', I will be secretly sad. If I come across Mr. Fuji in my 80's someday, he will still bring a smile to my face. He always does.