CHIEF MAHOGANY WAS VERY WISE, AND VERY VERY TALL (FROM OUR SHORT PERSPECTIVE) .
IT WAS ALWAYS SPECIAL WHEN OUR OLDER HIGHLY RESPECTED 5'10" COUSIN WE NICKNAMED CHIEF MAHOGANY CAME TO VISIT WITH HIS PARENTS, SISTER, AND YOUNGER BROTHER . . . WE ANTICAPATED THOSE VISITS WITH GREAT EXCITMENT BECAUSE WE KNEW THERE WOULD ALWAYS BE A HUGE COMMOTION RUNNING UP AND DOWN THE STAIRS, SLAMMING DOORS, GOING IN AND OUT OF EVERY ROOM IN THE HOUSE, RACING DOWN HALLWAYS AND THEN FINALLY VENTURING OUTSIDE (EVEN IN THE WINTER) ONLY TO COME BACK IN TO WARM UP, CATCH OUR BREATH AND RESUME THE CHASE AFTER CHIEF MAHOGANY (THE ONLY ONE OF US WHO COULD EASILY REACH THE TREASURE: A HUGE BAG OF NESTLES CHOCOLATE CHIPS).
IN RETROPSECT, I'M THINKING THAT MUMMY KNEW AND ANTICIPATED ALL OF THIS, AND SHE HAD INTENTIONALLY HIDDEN THESE DELIGHTFUL MORSELS IN THE BACK PART OF THE VERY HIGHEST KITCHEN SHELF.
WELL YOU CAN ONLY GUESS WHAT ALWAYS HAPPENED: CHIEF MAHOGANY LOVED CHOCOLATE CHIPS AND ONCE THE BAG WAS IN HIS HANDS, NO MATTER HOW FAST HE WAS RUNNING, HE WAS STILL ABLE TO TOSS A FEW CHIPS IN HIS MOUTH. IS THIS WHAT THE EXPRESSION "EAT AND RUN" MEANS? NEEDLESS TO SAY, THE CHASE INTENSIFIED AS THE CONTENTS DWINDLED!!
WHY THE NAME "CHIEF MAHAGONY? ALL OF MUMMY'S FURNITURE WAS MAHOGANY (AND WE THOUGHT IT SOUNDED LIKE A VERY ELEGANT INDIAN NAME).
Chanting and shouting CHIEF MAHOGANY, we would chase our older cousin from the kitchen to the hallway, through the living room, through the dining room, through the kitchen again, down the hallway, up the stairs and through those long hallways and even through all of the rooms of the attic apartment and down the stairs again to the first floor! With every shout we would reaffirm our love for our cousin, although I'm not sure he saw it that way!
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