My Mouse Diary-Catch and Release

I am holding a field mouse captive in my house. This is a fact that bothers me. He's in a "Have a Heart" cage and it's roomy enough for him, so I'm not hurting him in any way, I feel. He (or she) crawled in there of his/her its own volition. I did not chase it down, throw a net over it and wrestle it to the ground or anything...the problem ? This is Vermont and this is Winter in Vermont.

Day One--yesterday AM-- it was hovering right at 0 degrees F with a wind  chill factor of the NORTH POLE when I noticed that the trap had been sprung. I couldn't get myself to toss it out into that weather (or 3 miles down the road, as is my typical modus operendi) so I gave it some sun flower seeds and went to work.

Day One PM- I got home and it was even colder! Again, I couldn't do it. So I found a small plastic container, filled it with water and put it in the cage along with "dinner"--meaning more small black sun flower seeds and one big almond. At night, I put a towel over the poor guy's cage so he wouldn't be cold.

Day TWO- AM-- Minus 8 degrees below zero when I woke up and checked on him through the bars of the cage. He appeared dead, but the poor guy was only sleeping. I checked his water, noted that he had eaten many of the seeds and had slid the seed pods out of the cage  (hey, he's tidying up, I thought). I put more seeds in the cage and a little dried up omelet section (I figured he needed some protein) and covered him back up for the day. He seemed pleased.

Day Two --PM--Still cold. Couldn't do it.Gave him more water and food. Covered him up for the night.

Day Three--AM Checked on Mr. Mouse. Told him tonight I was going to let him go "at a barn"

Day Three--PM--Went home. Turned up the heat. Took the little bugger outside, put him in my warm car and drove him 2 or so miles away up to a horse barn with tons of hay and two very nice horses. There was a "spot light" there for the horses to see, apparently, so Mr. Mouse could see what was what when I opened the cage. He looked SSOOOOO tiny text to the horses and barn, out in the open like that. So tiny and helpless. And he looked over his shoulder at me on his way to the barn as if to say, "You? Can go to H E Double Hockey Sticks!"

I'm Vegan on Men

I just love watching movies and there is a lovely movie out there called "Decoy Bride" about a couple who runs off to Scotland to attempt to escape the media-crazed photographers chasing after the celebrity bride-to-be. They end up at an island named "Hegg" and, as it happens, a writer from the island has just returned home after being dumped by her would-be husband and meets the about-to-be writer husband of said celebrity. The female writer is eventually convinced that she needs to act as the "decoy bride"--Now, what could go wrong with a plan like that? you may ask.

Well, of course it all becomes something ridiculous, as all lies do eventually become--you know, she ends up accidentally marrying the groom for real, dresses/disguises  him like her estranged 1970's rocker father, and .....well, I don't want to give it away.  Of course, prior to this, she has told a fellow who is in love with her and who, himself, is recently wed, an islander, "I'm off men. I've become man vegan."

I have considered becoming vegan--not a huge far cry from vegetarianism--but still. And therefore, this statement has locked onto my conscious mind and made me think. I think about my own life and how ridiculous my experiences have been. If I think about it, it has been at least a year since I've even kissed a man and even then it was only for a little while. The minute we decided that "it wasn't going to happen" it seemed as if it really never had and all was forgiven. And, before that, it had been at least four or more years since I'd smacked lips with anyone else. And that, I am thinking, probably officially DOES make me Men Vegan. And the meal vegan thing? is just gonna have to wait.

New Year's Resolutions- measurable and achievable

A life list (some call it a "bucket list"--as in things one wants to do before s/he kicks the bucket) is taped to my bedroom wall and each New Year's Day I untape it and have a look at it. Now, writing a list such as mine is done by millions of people all over the world and good for them. Good for us. But New Years' Resolutions are most often, short-lived dreams. I don't know how many diets begin on January 1 of every year, but I'll bet there are zillions. And I know for a fact that most gym memberships begin (and then end) in January. Some people do end up losing and gaining that same 15 pounds every year...but at what expense, really?

The problem with goals set for the sake of setting them, is they aren't real and they only end up making us feel worse about ourselves for NOT achieving them. What makes my list special is not its contents--things like "trip to Ireland" and "ride a train to NYC and ice skate in Rockefeller Center"-- it's that I actually DO them. They aren't pie in-the-sky aspirations like jumping from an airplane or discovering the cure for cancer...they are, instead, practical, and achievable. Some might say "wholesome." And they aren't related to losing weight or getting more exercise or eating better, they also contain some character-building ones such as "forgive people who wrong me" and "extend the olive branch" that sort of thing and frankly, much harder for many of us to actually achieve than shedding those few pounds or taking a trip.

Of course, as the year goes on, I do check off the ones I accomplish so its a never-ending sort of list. But as god-awful a thing as a"never-ending list" sounds, it really is good to have goals in life...ones that are attainable...you know SMART ones and I really can't remember what most of the letters stand for, but  M stands for measurable and A is for achievable and, by the gods, measurable and achievable are good enough for me. I can do something with them. As can you.