A MOUSE IN THE ATTIC! 7/11/10

RECENTLY Jim went to replace two light bulbs in the ceiling light fixture in our office. We had been operating on one bulb for a while and then the one in the hall went out so obviously it was time to get some light bulbs. He climbed upon a stool and I looked up to watch as he began to unscrew the light fixture. I noticed it had a lot of little black things in it. I thought to myself; "I need to look up more often!"

AS HE LOOKED INSIDE OF THE FIXTURE, Jim said; "If I didn't know better I would say a mouse has been there!" He handed the fixture to me and sure enough; a scattering of mouse tracks filled the base of the fixture, along with some smatterings of chalky stuff from the ceiling. I took it out to the kitchen and poured them onto a paper towel, washed the fixture and handed it back to Jim. I asked; "How could a mouse get into that light fixture and why would bits and pieces of the ceiling plaster fall into the fixture unless something had been up there. He said; "Maybe the mouse pottied on the floor of the attic and it dropped through the socket into the fixture."

I DIDN'T LIKE THE SOUNDS OF THAT! I didn't like the idea of a mouse on my ceiling which would indicate it climbed the wall which means it must have crawled there from the floor which also indicates they could be around my feet. My sister Jeri reminded me that we just had a new roof put on. "These are probably old tracks and they fell through the light socket, landing on the fixture." That was much easier to swallow than perhaps a live mouse running around in the attic. Jim agreed that was probably how the tracks got there. I'm relieved, but not enough!

"BUT THE WICKED PERISH; the enemies of the Lord are like the glory of the pastures, they vanish, like smoke they vanish away. The wicked borrows and cannot pay back, but the righteous is generous and gives; for those blessed by the Lord shall possess the land, but those cursed by Him shall be cut off." Psalms 37:20-22 God's word says it very well; that is exactly how I feel about mice! Don't you? Don't you consider them a wicked vermin?

WHEN GOD CONSIGNS judgement upon the wicked; "Those who santify and purify themselves to go in the center, who eat swine's flesh and other detestable things and mice, shall come to an end together, says the Lord." Isaiah 66:17 You see God likens the judgement upon the wicked to eating mice; they all come to the same end together. So I don't think I am wrong to classify mice right along with snakes. I realize they are part of the ecogystem but in my book they are also filthy; an abomination.

BEFORE WE HAD CHILDREN we had our Beagle, Frosty. Whatever she did we thought it was cute. Before Jim bought our first dryer, I hung our laundry on the clothes line that came with the house. Whenever I had a basket of clothes to hang up Frosty was right there playing around my feet. This particular afternoon she was more animated than usual. She was jumping in circles in the air; she would roll over and sit up and beg by pawing the air. Several times I had to tell her to stop because she was distracting me and I had work to do.

WHEN I FINISHED I picked up the clothes basket and headed for the back door to the garage and she prompty followed but she was faster than I. She ran into the garage and came flying back and dropped a teeny tiny mouse at my feet and sat up and pawed the air. I jumped and ran back to the clothes line and discovered several other teeny tiny mice. No wonder she was so playful around the clothes line. She was wanting me to see her find and probably wanted me to play with her as she played with them. No such luck!

I TOOK FROSTY INTO THE HOUSE; hoping that the birds would come and find these tasty treats. When I checked later, they were gone. Yes God's creation is beautiful and all that breath are part of the ecosystem. However, my home is not their home! By Jane Ann Crenshaw 7/5/10