Of Mice and Men

We live in an old house, and it’s  a rare winter that I don’t need to bring out the mousetraps.  Years ago, when we still had dogs, we saw a brave mouse run out from under the stove and jump eagerly into the dog food bowl.  In 2008, as we were getting to know a just-arrived organizer we were hosting for the Hillary primary campaign, she was the first to notice a small furry greeter.  Just a couple of weeks ago, a tiny quick mouse ran out of the kitchen just minutes before guests were scheduled to arrive for dinner.  While we’re watching television in the evenings, we’ve been hearing rustling and rattling among the brown paper bags I store under the sink.  Enough is enough.

We’ve tried live traps, but, well… Once I opened the compost bin we keep out by the garage on a particularly cold day to find a very happy, well fed mouse looking up at me.  Since they clearly have other options, I don’t feel too bad about culling the ones who set up housekeeping in the basement, with frequent forays into the kitchen. So last night I set my traps, a new and promising kind.  And this morning I checked them.  Although the trap under the sink was unspung, the bait well, which had been filled with peanut butter, was licked clean.  Although it won’t stop me from another sneak attack tonight,  I can’t help but admire that mouse.

We’ve just finished binge-watching Season 1 of The Man in the High Castle.  Last night I told John that I think most of the characters have at least some good in them, even the villains.  Maybe it’s the casting or the costumes, but how can you not admire Inspector Kido?  Or the Yakuza boss?  Or even feel some sympathy for Obergruppenfuhrer John Smith, as he realizes what his political affiliation means for his son.  They may be bad humans, but they are humans.  I am not in the “wait and see” camp when it comes to the new administration, and I am not ambiguous about the real, historical Hitler, but within a wide range of humans I do find something to admire and, most of the time, some reason to feel affection and to hope for some good.

Lately that makes it hard to cope with reality.

 The only things one can admire at length are those one admires without knowing why. Eleanor Roosevelt

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