It Takes a Rat

In other news.... Well, I guess this is the official announcement that I’ve moved yet again. Twice in one year just is not ideal for one person to have to go through. Remind me to never do that again. Most of August, September, and October were spent painting and working on the house literally every minute that I wasn’t working at one of my other jobs. Some of you may be wondering how this House thing all came about, so I’m including one of the stories I wrote to put up at the Open House we held several weeks ago; it will give the necessary background. We are enjoying the house so much, and I LOVE all the room I have to spread out now. After Christmas, I am hoping to spend some time working on projects I never had room for before. My car has never been happier either... It has never had a garage to sit in overnight before. However, it is not all as glamorous as it could be, for there is this certain little Toad and his band of Cricket friends with whom I have had several disagreements already. The winner is yet to be determined....

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It Takes a Rat... The Story of How It Began

Sara and I moved to an apartment back in 1996 while we attended the Bowling Green Regional Technical School. After graduating in 1997, I moved back home and squeezed into a bedroom with Sharon. With our house to full capacity, Sara kept the apartment for an additional year, then moved back home as well. She took up residence in the barn apartment with the intention of saving up to build a house.

Things were progressing quite nicely until, little by little, the mice started letting Sara know she was not particularly welcome. Glue traps were set and thus began the era of the Great Mouse War. These mice were everywhere - - and it became the rule to see a mouse roaming the place, rather than the exception.

One evening, Mom’s house received a frantic phone call from the barn. Sara was screeching about sending the boys down to kill a rat. Kill a rat??? In their own good time, Alvin, Martin, Jolene, and Mom showed up to evaluate the situation. After investigating, they found that Sara had been intending to use the toilet, but upon raising the lid, she found it was already occupied……. By a rat, no less!

With five faces peering in at him, the rat knew he was busted. He guiltily looked up at them as if to say, "What? You mean the pool is closed today?"

The team of five now faced the dilemma of how to kill this rat. A hammer? A gun? No…… both of those methods would be counter-productive. When Jolene heard the word "kill" she immediately took up the rat’s cause by trying to protect him. She started petting him and trying to ward the others off, with Mom all-the-while howling about diseases and bites.

Mom dragged a wailing Jolene away from the scene while Martin armed himself with a plunger. Everyone but Jolene was put out of their misery when the rat was held under water slightly longer than his lungs cared for.

This not only established the Look-Before-You-Sit Rule, but it also was the beginning of a new Way of Thinking. Giving makeovers to Sara’s personal items, establishing welcoming committees for her after work, and cleaning out wastebaskets on a regular basis just did nothing to make up for leaving "tracks" all over everything, chewing through baseboards, and taking up residence in her bed (while she was in it)!

The night she had to sit with her feet propped up on her desk to preserve her toes, Sara knew it was TIME……. Time to move to a mouse-free environment. And thus began the journey of a lifetime…… Sara found a house plan she liked and worked together with Alvin and Martin to fast forward her dream of building her own house.

It was with an utmost sense of relief when we finally were able to move into this wonderful, new house. One of the first evenings after The Move, Sara went down to the basement to talk to me. Because there was no living room furniture at that point, she sat down on the floor in the living room and leaned up against the wall. I knew I was in trouble when Sara’s ears began to "twitch."

"What was that?" Sara asked.

"What? WHAT?" I demanded.

And there……. Right there.. We could hear the distinct scratching and moving that belonged unmistakably to the ever-dreaded…………MOUSE.

Immediately, glue traps and rat poison were put into position. Ears were pressed to the walls. Prayers were lifted to the Lord asking him to please remove all rodents from the house! So far, it has worked pretty well. But if ever there was a need for a hedge of protection, this is it!

Through it all we have learned this: Mice really are no respecters of persons, nor are they respecters of houses! But should we ever see an up-close and personal mouse, rat, lizard, whatever…… well…… Let the walls come down!!!