Mice

I love mice.  As Rose Fyleman said in her famous poem, they are "very nice."  How can you not love something so soft and tiny with such cute whiskers?  I know, they eat corn and seeds and grain and farmers hate them.  That's why they have cats.  Once when I was little, I was sitting on the step outside the farmhouse back door and my sisters and I had a cardboard container or straw and baby mice that my grandfather had caught in a nearby shed.  We let them go.  I didn't know what their fate would be, but I could guess and out they went.  Well, Grandpa was not happy with our compassionate critter routine.  We never did that again. 

I also know that at times I have had to set a mousetrap to catch a mouse in the house.  I am not afraid of them, but they don't belong running along my kitchen floor.  I just made sure that I didn't have to empty the trap.

My childhood storybooks always had such cute mice illustrations.  The best is Beatrix Potter who is amazing with any furry creatures.  There was the story, Ben and Me, of a mouse who lived in Benjamin Franklin's hat.  There is a newer one which won the Newberry prize for best children's book, Desperaux by Kate DiCamillo. This brave mouse goes on a quest.  I'm sure you can think of other cute and similar stories.

I also love Mickey and Minnie Mouse.  Besides making the Magic Kingdom so friendly, they have a new clubhouse on early for the little ones.  It teaches letters, numbers, shapes, and kindness.

My favorite mouse is a little 4" porcelain Revolutionary figure wearing a tricorn hat.  He is carrying a lantern with one at his feet and he is reading a blue book, Longfellow's The Midnight Ride Of Paul Revere.  I got him at the Old North Church gift shop when I went to Boston.  He is probably my favorite little figurine ever.

Well, there you have it, my funny fondness for mice - of every type.  Hope you cat lovers don't get upset.  I like cats, too.