Until it's personal

Standing in friends' garage I nearly hyperventilated as a meadow mouse scurried towards the center of the room and was consequently nearly stomped to death by one of the boys. I claimed that my massive intake of air had been in concern for the mouse and not in alarm at it's sudden appearance. It was of course explained to me that they are a nuisance as they tear out the insulation and they need to not live in the garage. I still didn't point out where the mouse had gone when he headed across the back of the garage a second time.

After lunch we worked with Sheryl and Mark to clean out the U-Haul.
We found that Hunca Munca and Tom Thumb had been there first and apparently, a bit longer. Our Fisher toys from the 1980s looked liked they had housed families of mice for years. I'm afraid that they interiors will have to be completely redone to rectify the damage. The little people themselves are going to be fine. I ran them through the dishwasher, and then ran all the dishes again just for good measure. Perhaps my soft heart for mice has to do with my pack rat tendencies, or just the fact that they are so cute. But I really don't think there is much in this world that smells worse than years of mouse urine. After today I think I may settle to post 'No Trespassing' signs and then let the mice fend for themselves- I'll be helping along the evolution of mice.

The upcoming Wisconsin holiday (deer-hunting season) is bringing another childhood 'friend' to the forefront of my mind. Which is a beautiful image - until I hit one with my car.