Susanna J. Sturgis   Martha's Vineyard writer and editor
writer editor born-again horse girl

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Teeth

May 26, 2007

When my father comes to the island, we usually go out for dinner. He's here for the holiday weekend, so we made a date for 6:30 p.m. Friday. This was stupid on my part because I rarely get home from the barn before 7, and the weather has been warm enough that the idea of going out without showering first grosses even me out. I managed to leave the barn by 6:30, but only because I didn't sweep the main aisle.

He hadn't been down since I moved this past winter, and when I gave directions on the phone I wasn't at all sure he was taking it in, so I was a little surprised that he got to my place before I did. I was even more surprised that he'd forgotten his teeth. Without his teeth he looks like someone who just crawled out of a cave he's been hiding in since the end of the war before the war before the war before the last one, during which time he'd been living on nuts, berries, and chocolate bars. By the time I showed up, my eight-year-old neighbor had already come out to greet the stranger. My father said she was very polite and didn't mention the teeth. He explained that he'd left his teeth at home. My neighbor doesn't miss a trick so I expect I'll hear more later.

I took my shower. My father went home to get his teeth. We went out to dinner. In the genetic lottery I got my mother's eyes and my father's teeth. This morning I took time to floss. Maybe I will start flossing every other day instead of once a week.

 

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