Hickory, dickory, dock. The mouse ran up the clock. And over the recliner. And under the table. And across the kitchen counter.
I really don’t like mice. In fact, I haven’t met anyone who does. Well, other than cats, but cats don’t count.
I have written in the past about learning as a teenager to turn my farm boots upside down and shake them before putting them on or risk having a mouse running up inside my pant leg. I had that happen. Once.
Having mice in a barn is one thing. Having mice in your home is another.
A few decades ago, Jolene and I lived in a small town in Nebraska, and our house was on the edge of town near corn fields. As such, we had our share of mice each fall. I’m no Sylvester the Cat, but I did kill a record six in one day. As the old saying goes, you never have one mouse.
I recall a time when my mother visited, and she saw a piece of half-eaten candy on the kitchen counter. She laughed that one of the kids must not have liked that one and left the other half there. Then she ate it. I knew that my kids never met a piece of candy they didn’t like, but I didn’t have the heart to tell Mom about the mice.
I became quite proficient at setting traps in the appropriate places to snare these mice. The kitchen was the jackpot. From our bedroom, we could hear the traps go off in the kitchen at night. At times, we could hear the little fella dragging the trap across the counter. This happened around midnight once, and Jolene yelled at me to get up and deal with it. I told her it would take care of itself, and I rolled over. Then she hastily got up, threw the mouse and trap in a paper bag, took the bag outside on the deck, and bludgeoned the mouse with a hammer. I never looked at Jolene quite the same after that.
Since moving back to Iowa, we haven’t had to deal with mice like those Nebraska days. Meanwhile, I still have a few dozen mouse traps — and Jolene still has a hammer.
Have a terrific Tuesday, and thanks for reading.
Shane Goodman
President and Publisher
Big Green Umbrella Media
shane@dmcityview.com
515-953-4822, ext. 305