making amends

On our last Sunday morning in Sand Springs, as we were leaving for church, we were greeted by a tiny dead mouse delicately laid on our welcome mat. I almost stepped on it. In flip-flops. I shudder to think what could’ve been. He was grey and his little pink fingers were drawn up. Robbie grabbed him by his stiff tail and disposed of him.

Could this be a peace offering from the neighborhood cats? Could they be trying to make amends right before we move? Ever since the end of May, when my small group surprised us with landscaping our front yard and giving us the much-coveted “curb appeal”, Robbie and I have been downright evil to any trespassing felines. As part of the landscaping project, my small group also provided us with a new hose, and to my delight, a multi-setting sprayer nozzle. The cats find the “FULL” setting very unpleasant.

Upon discovering one of our feline friends in our flowers, or on our cars, I would very slowly and quietly creep over to the hose (embarrasingly slow), click the dial until I found the desired setting, and unleash my fury.

And if I thought I saw so much as one piece of mulch out of place, I was irate, dousing the spot and surrounding areas with putrid smelling animal repellant, praying over the flowers, "Lord, just make this flowerbed repulsive to the cats. Keep them out, in Jesus' name!" Following one of these attacks, I heard the raspy laughter of my chatty neighbor Richard, whom some of you’ve met. I ignored him.