Chapter 4, White Bottom

Despite the unfortunate incident at the army camp, Uncle Rone, Dad's younger brother, always liked taking me places.

"You're the only one that is fun to be with," he used to say. I had other cousins on my father's side, you see. Most of them were older than me. Aunt Rosette had three kids, Yvette, Avraham, and Judah. Aunt Fortune had two kids, Haim and Moshe, and one on the way. She was eating a lot to make another one. It really looked that way. She was even bigger than mom when she was eating a lot to bring Avi. My cousins spoke Hebrew and very little Arabic. I was the only one who could speak all three languages well.
"You're so smart!" Everyone used to say. I knew that, they didn't have to rub it in all the time.

  Anyway, Uncle Rone took me to the beach in Ashkelon. Ashkelon was a city on the shore where Samson the hero was active thousands of years ago. There are pretty archeological sites there, but that is a subject for another story. Dad was in the navy for his military service, and he told me a lot about the sea. He loved the sea, and so did Uncle Rone. I will love the sea, too, I promised myself. You know what? I did love it, and I still do, even after what happened to me that first time.

It was a long way to the sea, from Be’er-Sheva to Ashkelon. Be’er-Sheva doesn't have a coast, the town is in the north side of the desert. The seashore was beautiful. I'd never seen anything like it before. There was the sand, the white sand that spread for miles like a huge sand box that lasted for ever. And then there was the water, so much water you couldn't see the end of it. Or maybe it was the end of it when you looked at the edge of the horizon.

"Is there a waterfall at the end there?" I asked. "Can we go see it? I've never seen a waterfall."
"No," Uncle Rone said, "It's the horizon.” (That's when I heard the word horizon.) “The world is round, and that's how far we can see. O.K. now take your shirt off. We are going to play in the water."

 We built a sandcastle right where the water touched the sand. Uncle Rone showed me how to decorate the castle with mud drops, and he helped me make a moat around the castle. Uncle Rone is a very good swimmer. He took me in his arms and laid me on top of the water and showed me how to swim. Once in a while he took his arms off, and sometimes I would sink and swallow water. It didn't taste good, and I coughed a little, but I didn't cry, I'm a big boy now, I have a little brother, he cries.

The sun was hot and strong, I loved it. The water was warm, and I wanted to stay there forever. We played and swam together for a long time.

This trip was the first time that I was exposed to the sun for such a long time. We both had so much fun that we didn't realize what was happening. I was getting red, very red, too red. By the time I got home my skin was bubbling and it hurt to touch. Mom put lots of creams, yogurt, and water on me. I couldn't even wear a shirt. For two days I had a very hard time sleeping. I don't remember how I managed it. It was very difficult lying down.

After three days, when all the pain was gone, I realized that I looked differently. I was dark brown. It looked like chocolate paint all over my body, my face, my back, my belly, my legs, even my feet. Butt, wait a minute, "Look at your tushy," Dad said to me in the shower, "It's white!" From that day on I acquired a new name, "White Butt," or as they called it in Arabic “Treima Baida.”

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Oatmeal Coconut Cookies

These cookies are very easy to make. They come out fluffy, crispy, and sweet.

Mix in this order in a big bowl:
               ½ Cup Margarine (or Oil, or Butter)
               ¾ Cup Brown Sugar
               ¾ Cup White Sugar (or ½ Confection Sugar)
               2 Eggs
               Pinch Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Vanilla, Coconut Extract
              ½ tsp Salt
             ½ tsp Baking Soda
             1 Cup Flour
             2 Cups Oatmeal
             2 Cups Unsweetened Coconut

  Drop spoon full onto oiled baking tray and bake for 12 minutes in 350°f (300°f in convection oven)

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