Messenger mice and Matt's movie

December 2

The dishwasher is making a weird racket.A loud masticating noise that I think might be connected to the presence of mice in the neighboring silverware drawer. It matches the rhythm of the dishwasher, but I'm still not certain.

After the mouseless revelation of yesterday morning, I may as well say that the two new traps I bought resulted in two dead mice overnight. One large, one small. And I may as well add that one trap showed extensive gnawing around its edges. Yes, I interpreted it that way, too. A desperate effort of one mouse to free the other, followed by the accidental or purposeful death of the would-be rescuer.

You bait a trap, you set the trap, and you hope that death comes quickly, without suffering, but you can't guarantee it so. If this sounds like a guilty eulogy, well, maybe a little. I disposed of the corpses, washed out the drawer and lining, put the cleansed silverware back in the tray, cleaned the peanut butter out of the traps, and felt bad again about the gnaw marks, in a resigned, grim, shit-happens sort of way. And then, not a half hour after I plucked knives, forks, and spoons out of their unblemished residences to set the table, Carol announced that there were two fresh black apostrophes right up front in the drawer, one on the tines of a white plastic fork for contrast (yes, I admit it, there are a few plastic items among the silver), the other casually on the tray floor, like a well-executed April Fool welcome-mat deposit.

A mouse, maybe two, had dared to boldly venture out during our suppertime, only minutes earlier, unafraid of our voices or commotion—clearly to leave a message.  "You may have gotten two of our soldiers, but here's a souvenir they left for you, man.  This is war!"

This is no wee, sleekit, cow'rin, timorous beastie, and I know what happens to the villains in Mighty Mouse cartoons. Pray for me.

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As for today's reveal, it's a one-minute silent movie my son Matt made in the Concordia U. Film Production Dept. up in chill, hip, Montreal. It's called Man Is Broken and it's full of little revelations. See for yourself. Here's the link on Vimeo:   https://vimeo.com/80684265.