(Courtesy of Flickr)
You don't believe me?
Well, not every common farmgirl can say that she has risen from a mid-day nap only to find a mouse resting on her clavicle.
It happened several years ago, in my childhood bedroom. We were home for Christmas and I found myself in need of a moment of solitude and rest.
Buried under a pile of blankets (no heat upstairs), I happily drifted off...
Only I kept having that annoying dream/reality that a fly was brushing against my face. It didn't make sense to my quasi-aware self because... it was December.
The dream/reality continued up until the smack-dab moment that my beady, brown eyes snapped open and locked with the beady, brown peepers of a wee, grey mouse. He darted down the length of the bed and returned from whence he came.
Yes, I shrieked.
There was really no other option, even for a non-shrieker such as myself.
I woke the neighborhood (i.e. my sleeping nephew).
It was so...so...unsettling, the whole experience. I had survived 15 years of my life in that very room without so much as a rodent wave. At least, not that I was ever aware of... And I worried about it, I did. Each time, my Dad would scoff at my ridiculocity (yep) and give me that tired line, "Those mice are more afraid of you than you are of them."
Mmmm hmmm.
I don't believe that I'll ever fully comprehend the invisible force that draws nocturnal furries to me in broad daylight. I wish I could say this incident was the first and only, but that just wouldn't be the truth.
Moral of the story: Mice can climb sheets.
Now why do I find this to be an adorable story? I love meeces to pieces. I like to imagine them with aprons on, living in little houses, rolling pie crusts, and taking their babies temperatures with tiny thermometers.
ReplyDeleteOMG...I think I would have had a heart attack and died right there in my childhood bedroom!
ReplyDeleteUnlike Jayme, I just don't conjure up visions of field mice wearing aprons and rolling out pie crust! LOL
Great post!!!
So funny! Scary but still funny too!
ReplyDeleteDid you know that they also enjoy hitchhiking from Goodwill to Anthropology...yummy nighttime views of the Downtown Seattle skyline and Trader Joe's chocolate chip cookies?
ReplyDeleteHad you had cheese for lunch that day? Perhaps you left a wee morsel on your chin.
: )
Julie M.
Ooh ick! I can't stop shuddering!
ReplyDeleteThis may lengthy but here goes. My husband is a total naturalist. He loathes killing animals even the 30 gazillion mice that roam our property. That said he uses have-a-hart traps. We trap all kinds of little woodland creatures but of course their was this one little brown mouse. And you'll love this..he "relocates" them to the tallest peak in AZ (The San Francisco Peaks) which we live under. I call it the Matt J. relocation program. Anyhoo, I went with him even thought I am DEATHLY afraid of mice. Long story short I am standing roughly 20 feet away from him perched on a stump, he lets the mouse go in the opposite direction as his skittish wife and low and behold that danged rodend did a u-turn straight towards me. To say I shreiked is a gross understatement. My husband says I sounded like Fay Ray when she first sees King Kong. Moral of the story...if a mouse was on my clavicle I would need therapy twice a week as well as a support group. How bout that novel Miss. Flower Patch!
ReplyDeleteC'mon...that is a record comment. Now I'm too tired to blog. ;)
ReplyDeleteUhhm, ever hear of the PLAGUE!! Or Hanta virus? Rodents just ICK me out!! Glad they avoid me like I avoid them. Of course our cat brings their decapitated heads round every now and then. As long as they're dead, I'm OK with it but still a little icked out.
ReplyDeleteeeww! i hate mice and i would have ran after to try and catch him so i could put him outside. cuz knowning he is still around creeps me out and now i can't sleep! lulu
ReplyDeleteare you kidding me???? oh man. that is beyond terrible.
ReplyDeletei had one snap at me when I reached in a box of crackers from our pantry last winter. the little booger beat me to them.
i'm still paranoid to open anything from the pantry to this day.
Country life.....ain't it grand?
ReplyDeleteHi Shannon! Glad you liked the game board hearts and paper roses -- how's that for a country song title?! I'll trade you your mice for our bats. Yikes. xo How are things with work? Korea?
ReplyDeleteWanna hear one worse? I've heard that a person swallows an average 700 spiders, in their sleep, in their lifetime!? A mouse... maybe not so bad after all?
ReplyDeleteThat is just horrible. Ughhh yuck! That would have scared me for life.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry. I'm laughing my head off. I would've had the same reaction as you. However, my fear is SNAKES. I've told my kids if they ever see me laying in the yard, it's because I've seen a snake and had a heart attack.
ReplyDeleteUnnerving isn't it? Maybe you're the woodland creature whisperer!
I, for sure, would have been majorly freaking out. You were such a good sport ;)
ReplyDeleteI am so glad you had Dad around to influence you. Do you remember going to Mrs. Gibbony's to take care of her chickens during the big blizzard, when she was snowed in her house?? At least you had me to come home to with a hot cup of chocholate waiting for you! It makes a little mouse in your room seem so insignificant.
ReplyDeleteI actually love mice---when they stay in their God given environment. I'm not crazy about them in the house. I tolerate them in the barn.
ReplyDeleteI do know, my initial reaction to waking up to those little eyes would be more than a shriek!
When I was growing up we had a mouse that would visit us in our family room on a daily basis.
He would come out and sit in the middle of the floor and watch us. My mother was so enthralled (my inheritance) that she started placing little things to eat on the floor to coax it closer and closer. It eventually would sit at our feet.
My father would shake his head and tell us we were both crazy. My brothers wanted to catch it and I'm sure--torture the little thing.
I know they are vermin, germy and productive, but there's something about those little furry bodies...
Girl be happy it was just a mouse. We used to live close to the ocean and had those huge water rats everywhere. Now those are scary!!!
ReplyDeletei know i am just going to LOVE your blog... x pam
ReplyDeleteLOL. As I was reading it, I could just imagine the scene unfolding. When I was a kid, a mouse ran right across my bare foot and that freaked me out.
ReplyDelete-FringeGirl
I just came across your blog and I just had to leave a comment...It is funny, but I feel so cozy here, if I can even put it that way...Your blog feels like home...Anyway...So the point is, I love your blog and that is that! haha... It is kinda like reading a funny-sweet diary.
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful Sunday. Hugs,
Erika
I would have completely shrieked too!!!
ReplyDeleteJust found your blog and had to become a follower. I had a similar experience with a mouse as a child. He traveled down the back of my nightgown as I slept on my side. I woke up as he was turning around to travel back up. Needless to say there was some screaming going on. I have so many critter stories that you'd think I'd be a little timid of them, but I'm drawn to them as much as they are drawn to me. And did you know mice climb trees...I stood in disbelief this fall as I watched one do it right in front of me in my yard.
ReplyDeleteSo nice to meet you,
Cindy at Lakewood