I Love To Go A Gardening
Growing Our Life in Northern Michigan
Misty November
Yesterday as Danny and I were nearing the end of our walk, about a block away from home, I saw our cat Rikki-Tikki-Tabby walking down the sidewalk toward us. When he reached us, I picked him up and gave him lovings as we continued on toward home. Rikki used to sometimes follow us on our walks. If he continued to followed us too far, I always turned around toward home. I didn’t want him to get too far from home or too near a busier street. One day I encountered an elderly lady who lives on our route. She said, “Are you the one who walks her cat? I told my sister, who lives on the other side of town, about your cat who goes on walks with you!”
Last night after EJ got home from work, we were surfing the Internet on our laptops and talking when EJ suddenly said he couldn’t stand hearing the distressed mouse. I hadn’t even heard it until he spoke up. This, for those who are counting, is mouse #6. EJ got up and put the live mouse in a can and took it outside. My guys are a bit more compassionate toward the mice than I am. Whenever I see a mouse in the house, I think not only of the rat infestation in the movie of Ratatouille but also of the Black Death, which killed 75 to 200 million people during the years 1346–53. It is thought to have been spread by fleas on rats. I also think of the children’s story in which the Pied Piper agreed to rid a town of a horde of rats and ended up stealing the town’s children as well. Ok, those stories are all about rats, but mice are practically rats and they also are not safe. I have a policy: Rodents and insects are safe as long as they remain outside. I think they are cute and I have compassion for them if they stay outside. If they come into my house, that is a different story.
Anyway, I asked EJ where he dumped out the mouse. He said he stood on the front porch and tossed the mouse near the car. He thought the mouse was probably safe enough….unless it hit the stone wall. “Well, I did accidentally throw it kind of high into the air…but it probably was ok.” He continued on, “Although, I did hear it thud as it hit the stone wall….So maybe it’s not ok. Maybe it’s dead.”
I laughed…not at the thought of an injured mouse, but at EJ’s description beginning with the likelihood of the mouse being alive and ending with it, well, maybe not. I glanced around for the possibly dead mouse after Danny and I got home from our walk today, but didn’t see any body. Of course, there are a lot of leaves all around so it might have blended in. And Something might have eaten it.
I hate these mice. When it comes to mice, I am completely on the side of the cats.
I almost didn’t take Danny for his walk because it was rainy-ish, but he told me he REALLY wanted a walk today. I knew a few “words” in the dog language. I had a dog named K.D. when I was a child. K.D. is pronounced Kay-Dee. She was named after my brother’s initials (first and middle names) since he brought her home to our family. K.D. taught me that gruntings mean “I love you.” I learned from K.D. that if you listen to a dog’s little gruntings when she’s giving you lovings and if you grunt them back, the dog always licks your face in joy. Danny always gives emphatic sneezes when he strongly wants something. (Hey, what can I say? I always wanted to be Doctor Doolittle and talk to the animals.) Today Danny put his head on my lap and grunted “I love you” and then he sneezed emphatically several times with pleading eyes–so I knew he really, really wanted to go for a walk today and I had to take him.
The weather was very gray and it was misty. As we walked, I kept thinking, “One misty, moisty morning when cloudy was the weather…” That is actually the first lines of an old nursery rhymes. It goes:
One misty, moisty, morning,
When cloudy was the weather,
There I met an old man
All clothed in leather
All clothed in leather,
With a cap under his chin.
How do you do?
And how do you do?
And how do you do again?
I was thinking of only taking Danny for a very short walk because I thought it might rain, but we ended up walking almost the whole route. A little grayness and mistiness never hurts anyone. As we neared home, the mist turned into a light rain so we skipped the last block. We had a really enjoyable walk. The leaves are completely gone now…well, except for a few trees who are stubbornly holding on. The day looked completely Novemberish. I used to think November was drab and depressing, but now I love all the moods of all the seasons. The pictures below were taken between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. today.
I Love To Go A Gardening 
You all live in the most beautiful surroundings Teri and I love your little town, in all the seasons. I’m with you and the cats in the mouse thing…….. The insects and mice belong outside and inside they find us on their way in…. I love november when at the end of the afternoon the light is grey and some kind of dim. At my front window I have still a wall of trees in all the different colors so I love to watch them. But I love all kinds of autumn and winter weather. Love you all and have a blessed day. Hope JJ is getting feeling better each and every day . Thinking back a year ago what a year it was. And still happy that he is doing so well. ❤
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You are correct: A year ago, we were entering a hellish year with JJ having just been diagnosed with cancer. I am glad this November is calmer.
I am glad you can look out your window and enjoy beautiful a beautiful wall of trees. Shabbat Shalom, Simone!
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Beautiful pictures of fall. I too believe that all rodents belong outside. They are just creepy and as you pointed out so likely to carry diseases. We always think of the Hanta virus. As for the dampness, I always think of Shakespeare and how he has Portia, the wife of Brutus say something to the effect that it is bad to breath the damp air of the morning.
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