“Women with clean houses do not have finished books.”
Today is busy in odd ways. First, as I was making coffee, I noticed a mouse in my trap. It hadn’t been there long as evidenced by the lack of mouse poop (sort of gross, I know). It was the same mouse I had seen on Wednesday but didn’t catch. I had chased it into the bathroom but it got away. I then baited the trap with chunky peanut butter. I kept checking and finally, this morning, the trap was occupied. I immediately grabbed the trap, got into the car, drove to a wooded spot and let the mouse go. I wished it well.
I went to the kitchen to get another cup of coffee. I noticed a ring around the burners. I couldn’t help myself so I started cleaning the top of the stove, coffee forgotten. Next I swiffered the hall. It had bunches of white dog hair (assuming, of course, that dog hair comes in bunches). It was then I remembered the coffee.
I’m almost afraid to move. I’m thinking the rest of the house needs swiffering, my bed needs changing and the laundry is growing legs because it has been too long in the hall.
Today is lovely. The sun is bright. Even though it is 64˚, it is chilly because of the wind. Some white flowers are blooming in the front garden. They are small and delicate. Whatever they are, they have spread.
My dance card is empty. I’m glad for that. Today is a stay at home day. Part of it will be spent cleaning. As for the rest of the day, I’m thinking reading and relaxing and maybe even taking a nap.
When I was growing up, I wanted to be lots of things. Some days I thought being a cowboy was about the best job of all. You get to ride a horse and dress in western clothes with lots of bead work and fringe. Annie Oakley was tops on my list. Dale Evans was a close second. When I was ten, I wanted to be a writer, like Jo in Little Women. It was my favorite book. I had a Whitman edition with a hard cardboard cover, and I devoured that book. Being a detective and traveling around solving crimes seemed great fun, and Nancy Drew’s roadster would have been an added perk though I admit that one was a long shot. Reading about Nelly Bly made me want to travel the world as did just about every copy of National Geographic. I imagined myself wandering through the rain forest or riding across the desert on a camel.
Some futures I never entertained, like being a nurse or a doctor. Maybe if Florence Nightingale had worn fringe and could hit the bull’s eye while standing atop her horse’s saddle, I might have been more interested.
Explore posts in the same categories: Musings
May 11, 2018 at 12:02 pm
true
May 11, 2018 at 12:35 pm
Gnu,
I finished a book two days ago and started another. Definitely true!
May 11, 2018 at 2:00 pm
High humidity, no wind made it nasty here most of the day even if it actually was quite cool. It is much nicer now in the evening when it actually is much warmer but with low humidity. Thunder passed by but not especially close to us, I liked the sound of it though.
I remember wanting to be either a farmer or a baker when I was very young and later on being a vet, I never even thought of working with building cars or motors or painting like I do now 🙂 🙂
Have a great day!
Christer.
May 11, 2018 at 4:07 pm
Christer,
I also like the sound of thunder. Gracie never minded it. I hope Henry will be the same. It has been a while since we’ve had a thunder storm.
It is funny when you think about growing up and dreaming about the future. I did ride camel in the desert and did wander through a rain forest. The travel bug was the strongest.
Have a good evening!
May 12, 2018 at 12:54 am
Albin wants to go and find what ever it was that made that loud sound 🙂 🙂
May 12, 2018 at 11:48 am
Henry barks at any noise he hears.
May 11, 2018 at 4:01 pm
A new three-part adaptation of “Little Women” begins on Masterpiece Theater this Sunday.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/shows/little-women/
May 11, 2018 at 4:17 pm
Thanks, im6
I loved Little Women when I was young. It was a Christmas present which I didn’t put down until I’d finished it That book led me to all the others about the March family. I I hope this is a faithful adaptation. I do have my visions about the characters.
May 11, 2018 at 4:44 pm
I believe in off with their heads. If I have a mouse problem I would get one of those big steel traps that will cut their head right off as soon as they even sniff the peanut butter. It’s not like you are killing Mickey or Minnie Mouse. 🙂
When I was a little kid I also wanted to be a cowboy. All the TV Cowboys made it look like fun when in truth it’s really hard and dirty work. When I flew from Dallas to NYC in 1953 my love for aviation began to bloom. In those days the pilots left the cockpit doors open during the flight and passengers were invited to visit the flight deck. The captain let me sit on his lap and I was enthralled by the entire business. Upon my return home I began reading aviation books and pictures and building model airplanes.
Today was another beautiful day with a high of 87 degrees.
May 11, 2018 at 5:52 pm
Bob,
I won’t kill a mouse. It is easy enough to trap it and release it far away from here.
I loved the girl cowboys. I went horseback riding a couple of times and wasn’t enthralled though I still wished I had a gun and a holster and a pair of cowboy boots.
I was 11 when I vowed I would travel when I was older. My trips have amazed even me. That I would live in Africa never entered my dad or even my imagination.
The day got only as hot as 65˚.
May 11, 2018 at 6:38 pm
I’ve gone horseback riding a few times and always seemed to get horses that had minds of their own as to direction. I didn’t enjoy either western riding or English riding. Horses are somewhere on the intelligence scale below pigs and maybe above dogs.
Mice are not pets but vermin that spread diseases and multiply faster than rabbits. We once had an infestation of roof rats and we had to get an exterminator to throw a special type of poison packs in the attic that would petrify the rat bodies so that they didn’t die behind the walls and start stinking.
May 11, 2018 at 6:47 pm
Bob,
I know people who adore riding. I went a couple of times and really didn’t enjoy it.
I know mice aren’t pets, but I still won’t kill them. My brother says that every house on the cape has mice. He is right about mine though this is the first one I’ve seen in a while.
How did the exterminator guarantee that the mice would not die in the walls?
May 11, 2018 at 8:07 pm
The poison would not only send them to their rodent reward but it would also dehydrate their bodies into something like chalk. Therefore, if they died inside the wall their bodies would not rot but disintegrate.
May 11, 2018 at 8:16 pm
I looked up rat poison and found this page:
http://www.pestproducts.com/deadrats1.htm
May 11, 2018 at 8:55 pm
Thanks for the article. Regardless, it’s more fun to imagine the rates became mummified. 🙂
May 11, 2018 at 9:08 pm
I suspect it is comforting thinking they have disintegrated.
May 11, 2018 at 8:37 pm
No spring cleaning bug yet, no mice, I hated that what-do-you-want-to-be question as a kid and I don’t like Kate Bush’s voice but I heard Ghanaian music on our radio today, King Ayisoba and his band from Bolga. Some songs of a concert in Poland last year were broadcasted.
May 11, 2018 at 9:07 pm
Birgit,
Bolga was my home. I love it there. It is filled with memories.
There are Kate songs I like and Kate songs I don’t.