Octopus's Garden

SOMETHING'S FISHY: Ever since they saw the episode of the "Kirby Right Back at Ya!" cartoon called "Dedede's Raw Deal," the kids have been semi obsessed with going to a sushi restaurant. But not just any sushi restaurant would do - it had to feature a conveyor belt with moving sushi, like the one in the cartoon.

Well today was their big day. I told Kennedy, who loves sushi, that we'd take him there for lunch before he had to head back to Bellingham. Rick was available, as well, so off to Sushi Land we all went! Fortunately (and perhaps it's a first) reality actually exceeded expectations hatched while watching the cartoon. The conveyor belt circles the whole restaurant - it must be around 60 feet in all. Along it move dozens (perhaps hundreds) of colorful little plates with tasty works of art. We sat down right across from a sushi chef's station, and had an excellent vantage point to all sorts of savory wonders being created.
Almost as soon as we sat down, CJ snatched octopus off the belt. Perhaps not surprisingly, he loved the IDEA of grabbing octopus in a sushi restaurant. The eating part - well HELL no.


Though neither one was keen on really chowing down, they had a blast playing with their chopsticks, and they did each sample a spring roll and some endamame.
Later, CJ asked me when sushi was invented. I gave him the lazy, "Oh, hundreds and hundreds of years ago" answer. He wouldn't accept such vague generalities, which I find either annoying and awesome, depending on what mood I'm in. ;)

Well, according to Sushifaq.com, "What was to become sushi was first mentioned in China in the second century A.D." Apparently, sushi was originally a way of preserving food. The site says fish was placed in rice and allowed to ferment, which allowed an individual to keep the fish edible for some time. Makes sense to me. Of course, sushi has evolved. The sushi we eat today has its roots in the early 19th century, when Hanaya Yohei conceived a major change in the production and presentation of his sushi. Instead of wrapping the fish in rice, he placed a piece of fresh fish on top of an oblong shaped piece of seasoned rice. This style is called ‘nigiri sushi’ (finger sushi) or “edomae sushi” (from Edo, the name of Tokyo at the time). Interesting (and tasty!) stuff.

MONKEY-SEA, MONKEY DO: Today, we had to head out to Toys R Us at Northgate. (I know, I know, heading for one of Seattle's biggest shopping destinations just a couple of days before Christmas = crazy.) But it had to be done. You see, a person can't score the near mythical Sea Monkeys just anywhere. As far as I can tell in my travels, Toys R Us at Northgate is the only damn place in Seattle that has 'em, and we really needed (yes, NEEDED, not wanted) to get them for a young 'un on our gift list.

Once in the car, the kids were holding the Sea-Money habitat (just add water!) like it was the Golden ticket! Naturally, they were both curious to know, just what IS a Sea-Monkey?

I told them I thought they were brine shrimp - that I remember hearing that somewhere at some time.

Once home, we looked it up. According to their official Web site:

Sea-Monkeys® are a true miracle of nature. They exist in suspended animation inside their tiny eggs for many years. The instant-life crystals, in which the eggs are enclosed, preserve their viability and help to extend still further their un-hatched life span! Sea-Monkeys are real Time-Travelers asleep in
biological time capsules for their strange journey into the future!

Hmm. Nothing about their TRUE origin there. Digging deeper, however, we discover:

Sea-Monkeys® are a unique species of brine shrimp, known by the scientific name
of Artemia NYOS. We not only unlocked the most elusive secrets of their life
cycle, we created new formulas to keep them alive under conditions found in the
average home—an accomplishment never before achieved! Finally, after years of
crossbreeding, we developed a hybrid. These amazing new hybrids grow larger and
live longer than any "natural" variety of brine shrimp. Resulting from the most
exquisitely sophisticated “aquaculture technology”, by true pioneers in this
science, only the utmost resources of a leading marine biological research
center working for a span of many years has made this project a complete
success.

Wow, high tech hybrid brine shrimp, they are. The Web site reports the Sea-Monkeys may live up to two years. Funny, when I was a kid, I recall them living maybe two hours. ... Anyway, it says they should grow up to be between 1/2 to 3/4 an inch in length during their first four weeks. After they're a month old, they'll supposedly start breeding "and have more adorable babies."

PLAYGROUND POW WOW: It wasn't sunny, and it was a little chilly, but we managed to sneak in a play session this afternoon with a favorite play pal, Connor. We met at Lawton Elementary since it has a covered play area and rain was a definite maybe.

For a long while, the kids played warring octopuses (sushi inspired, perhaps?). At one point CJ took a break in the action to come over and ask me, "What does an octopus eat?"

Well crap, I have no idea. "Um, sea creatures," I volunteer, feebly.

I'll trust the folks at University of California - San Diego when they tell us, "Octopuses eat shrimp, lobsters, crabs, and snails. They eat by grabbing prey into their eight arms. Using their parrot-like mouth, they shred prey into small pieces that will fit into their mouths."

Yikes. Note to self: Add "octopus" to list of creatures to avoid.

After playing in the school yard, we ventured uphill to the adjacent city park. It will soon be renovated, which will give us yet another great place to play. There's a lot Seattle gets wrong, but their parks are first rate.

OVER THE RIVER AND THROUGH THE WOODS: To grandmothers' houses we go tomorrow. That's right, with approximately 72 percent of the state of Washington population, we will be traveling on I5 (and other highways and by-ways) tomorrow. First stop, Vancouver USA, then on south and west toward the Oregon Coast area.

In other words, MPA will likely be offline tomorrow.