Yesterday, as the bug, Dutch and I were walking home from one of our long walks around town, we passed one of those stores that sell used kids' stuff that are usually called things like "Too Good to be Through" or "Twice as Nice." I think the name of this particular one is "Clothes-Go-Round." And of course they're pretty great -- like garage sales that are open Monday through Friday.

When we walked past the "Go-Round," it was long closed. But down on the sidewalk in front of the door was a single black and white plastic teething ring. I stopped, looked at Dutch, and we both looked down at the ring. We were both thinking the same thing: the bug would LOVE that ring.

At some point on the mile or so walk to our apartment from there, I rubbed the ring between my thumb and index finger and it occurred to me what could be on this ring. Clement street is one of our favorite streets in the city, but it's not known for its cleanliness (let's just say it's no presidio heights). Chinese fish shops throw still-wriggling chunks of bloody fish into icy sidewalk bins and after a long hot afternoon they just wash the sidewalk with a hose; Irish bars stay open well past the legal closing time and drunk expatriots puke all over the sidewalks until the wee hours o' the mornin'; cigarettes everywhere, fruit from Chinese markets rotting everywhere, and there is always a 37% chance you will end up with gum on the bottom of your shoe. so it's not the cleanest place in the world (nor is it the mission or the lower haight or that strip of golden gate park where all the pot-dealers hang out). With all this in mind, I washed the ring in hot water with antibacterial soap before handing it off to the bug. Who knows what would have happened if I had given it to her when Dutch wanted to, i.e. three seconds after picking it up off the ground.

The ring is black and white (which she loves, since she is a baby, and black and white to babies must be psychedelic or something). It has a pencil-like diameter, and is the perfect size for her little hands. And now it is her favorite toy. We had been looking for black and white teething toys everywhere, but I swear all these companies think parents will only buy colorful ones, and Dutch has just about had it with all of the damn colors this baby has brought into our apartment. Dutch spent two years buying sleek modern furniture for our apartment before I got pregnant, and he had at least two or three nervous breakdowns in the infant department of Target looking at multi-colored exersaucers and gingham winnie-the-pooh swings. So we love the black and white teething ring, and more imporantly, so does she. Of course some mothers wouldn't give their baby a little teething toy they found on the sidewalk near Clement street, but that's just not the kind of mother I am.