A day with Dali and David´s tooth

Dali Museum

Thanks to Joaquim, we went today on a well timed trip to and from the town Figueres, the town where Salvador Dali was born. The trip to Figueres was well worth doing a train transfer and moving inland instead of moving along side the Mediterreanan. We got to see 15 mnutes of the sea before the landscape turned to marshes, small farms, tall rushes, and rolling hills.

David and I decided Figueres should be called Ciutat dels Nens, City for Children, because it had so many wonderful parks he wanted to stop and play in on our walk to the Museum. The adults sat on a park bench eating sweet clementines while David scampered with the local children all over the slide and climbing equipment. Joaquim asked the question, ¨Can you eat too many mandarines?¨ I said, what do you mean? He said, ¨I am afraid I just can´t stop. They are so delicious.¨ The merchant had a big smile when I came back for my second kilo before we collected our things and moved on to the museum.

David and headed back towards the museum. If you look closely at the image above you will see that it appears to be crowned with eggs alternating with Hollywood Oscars, arms stretched out in various poses. I was worried I would not be able to make sense of Surrealism. I wanted an audioguide or a book to read or even titles next to his works, even ones that said, ¨untitled¨ but to no avail. All I could find was a Museum pamphlet that quoted Dali as saying something like, My work is not art until a viewer is engaged with it and contemplating the images.

Gala, Dali.s wife

One of my favorite things about Dali, maybe even more than his hilarious sense of humour, is his devotion to and love for his Muse and Wife, Gala. Not that you can tell from his works how he treated her, but it was lovely to have so many positive images of her, with her, and for her. Did you know he purchased her a castle? Their agreement was that he would not go there without a request in writing. I shall have to decide what I will require Joaquim to request in writing after we have been married for as many years as they were.

Our final leg home of the trip, just as we were approaching our stop, yeilded an unexpected surprise. David had been showing us how he could make his loose tooth lay on its back, its front, go up an elevator to the next floor and even spin in a half circle, going clockwise or counterclockwise. Then, to my own surprise, an offer was made that he could not refuse. David took advantage of Arta´s offer to bite her finger as hard as he wanted.

She has been needling him from day one of the trip, giving him the chance to have a true sibling relationship that a single child doesn´t typically get. The smile on his face when she made the offer, suggested a new emotion we have not practiced labelling in therapy: revenge.

We had discussed the word ¨backfire¨ earlier in the day with him, and this did appear to be a perfect object lesson. Down came his teeth in an attempt to remove her first joint of her index finger, and out popped his tooth onto the floor of the train. Three of us were laying on the greasy, grimy train floor running our hands across the floor and rubbing pebble size trash between our fingers tryng to find the missing tooth. He lost a tooth the week prior, the only evidence to him being the prizes he found under his pillow in the morning. He checked the mirror, and sure enough that first one was gone. We were hoping the second one would come out in a more visible fashion. His tooth was found mere seconds before the train stopped at Calella, our stop.



The Catalan Tooth Mouse, carrying David´s tooth away

 It is late now. David is snuggled in bed. His tooth is laying under his pillow. He is wondering who will arrive first, The Canadian Tooth Fairy or the Catalan Mouse Perez (Ratoli Perez) to head off with his tooth and leave a present in return. We have reassured him, those tooth-loving creatures get along well and are good at sharing.