What is a monkeybox?

When I was a little girl, we had a pet monkey named Amanda. My Dad worked in the produce business, so each night he brought home that days culls in a big box - spotty cucumbers, pithy apples, limp celery, moldy oranges and the like. We called it a monkeybox. It was really just trash, but my Mom would take each piece of fruit and trim it, pare it and cut it up to make a beautiful fruit platter for Amanda. Even though it was deemed trash by one, it still had life left in it and was good for the purpose we needed it. That's how I live my life - thrifting, yard saling, looking for another's trash to be my treasure.

Monday, March 10, 2008

The Gravy Boat

When The Bean was about four years old we went to a thrift store. (Shocking, no?) He was digging in the toy bin while I looked around at things near him, keeping an eye on him too. He walked over to me with a bright orange plastic Gravy Boat in his hands.

"What's this?" he asked.

"That's called a Gravy Boat," I told him.

"Wow! A Gravy Boat!' he exclaimed. He held it up to the gleaming window and admired the Gravy Boat. He was in awe of the Gravy Boat. (Keep in mind that we didn't have a real Gravy Boat at our house, so this was a new concept for him).

"Do you want it?" I asked. He had a play kitchen full of play food, real pots and pans and dishes that he played with. A lot. All day. He certainly didn't have a Gravy Boat, so I thought that is why he thought he needed a Gravy Boat for his kitchen.

"Uh-HUH!" he said and clutched it to his chest.

So, we paid the quarter for the bright orange Gravy Boat and he rode home with it clutched to his chest admiring his Gravy Boat all the way.

That night he was geting ready for his bath and I heard him gathering up his toys for bath time. When I went in to check on him, the Gravy Boat was sailing in the tub while The Bean said, "Gra-veeee, Gra-veee" (like a tugboat whistle).

He thought it was a Gravy boat. A boat full of gravy.

I found the Gravy Boat this weekend while I was cleaning out some things in preparation for a yard sale.

I kept the Gravy Boat.

(Gravy is a dumb word after you type it and read it a hundred times. Gravy.)

4 comments:

  1. Anonymous3:54 PM

    Oh I would have had to keep it too. His children will enjoy that story one day.

    Libby

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think I would have put it in a place of honor for all to see! What a great story.

    ReplyDelete
  3. You are tooo funny! Certain words just seem weird once you write them down over and over!
    What a sweet story. Yup, that gravy boat is a keeper!

    ReplyDelete
  4. The Bean just gets 'cooler' and 'cooler' the more I learn about him! Gravy is one of my all time favorite condiments (right up there with Mustard!!), and you know how I adore the color orange!!! No shelf for that Boat - you must USE it now!

    ReplyDelete

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