The Night of the Morning of the Gala September 18, 2006

Here’s why the Gala apple came in handy. On a Friday night, I’m playing host with eleven other parents to 30 kids (mine included) for an overnight stay on the USS Pampanito – a World War II submarine docked at pier 45 in the San Francisco Bay. At the same time, my wife’s father, Warren Hinckle, who has always had huge basset hounds and a mischievous sense of humor, went out of town and left his current 95-lb dog-o-drool Melman with us. My wife is staying home to take care of the dog while I’m playing midshipman with the kids. As the club-sandwich stack of four berths, I’m on the top of pitches back and forth in the bay, and the kids whoop and holler while wearing pirate hats; the dog is in our apartment hiding from our 12-lb cat. The cat has been stalking the dog relentlessly.

Now I’m up at 2 am making sure that the kids don’t slip off the bunks while another parent is learning how to work the 65-year-old “heads” as kids begin to get sea-sick. My wife, a few blocks away, in the relative comfort of our apartment, is sitting on the couch, Melman on her lap, watching cable to keep the dog from howling in fear of the cat who is peeking from behind the door and then withdrawing his head menacingly (my wife’s words). By 4 am I’m up again because of one of the kids, who tends to sleepwalk, sits up and starts talking gibberish. My wife tells me that at the same time, the cat, which she shut in the kitchen after hissing at the dog, is crying loudly. By 7 am – my wife and I confer by phone – the dog is baying at the door to go out, and the kids on the boat are awake and hanging upside down between the bunks. The adults have received about 3 hours of sleep. As my son tells his friend that this is the “best Pirates of the Caribbean ride ever” I can’t help but feel like it’s closer to Gilligan’s Island. As we exit the sub, my wife drives up with the basset hound sitting in the front seat – he has slobbered his rubber cement drool all over the passenger-side-window. She gets out eating an apple, hugs the kids, and hands me one too. “It’ll wake you up,” she says, knowing that I still have to go into work. “Maybe even enough to write the newsletter.”
Gala’s and August Fire nectarines – fruit to get you going!

I’m a big advocate of fruit as a tool for productivity – whether for parenthood or in the office. My personal opinion is that it is healthier and provides longer lasting and more stable energy than caffeine.

Enjoy and be fruitful! – Chris Mittelstaedt chiefbanana@fruitguys.com