Fun House
Plant a tree, grow a fish

By Bob Engelbardt, Honolulu

Years ago, when our children were small, I frequently went snorkeling and spear-fishing in the waters off Lanikai.

Once, I caught a couple of puffer fish, also known as blowfish — the ones with sharp spines that puff up into a ball. To prepare the fish, I cleaned them, sewed up the skin and placed a balloon inside. By inflating the balloon, the fish would regain their puffed-up look. Then I hung them out to dry. After several weeks, I sprayed them with varnish and displayed them in our living room.

One day, we had some visitors who were admiring the fish. One of them asked, "Where do they come from?"

Before I could respond, one of my young daughters said, "Oh, they grow in trees here!"

I was quite flabbergasted and wondered where she got such a wild idea, until I remembered an important step in the preparation process. Because drying fish tend to smell bad, I had hung them from a tree branch in the yard, well away from the house.

Apparently, my daughter had observed the fish suspended from the tree and assumed it was their origin — no questions asked.

Do you have a funny story about your child, spouse or other family members? The best Fun House anecdotes of 2001 will be reprinted after the end of the year, and the selected writers will receive Honolulu Advertiser logo items.

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