Rats!

The problem with rats is they have no fear

of human beings…they would run the

place given half the chance…”

– Sir David Attenborough

When I opened the door, the little guy stayed put. I had to shake him out. He froze for a moment on the desert floor, took a quick glance at what he thought was a large predator preparing to make a meal of him, and scurried off, disappearing into the cactus and underbrush.

"Yeah," I said almost as an afterthought. "And don't come back!"

I smiled to myself, almost hoping he would survive, hopped back in the car and headed home.

How this started…

The leaves on the miniature grapefruit tree had begun to disappear. Actually, that had not been the beginning. The Agave plant lost a couple of its leaves, gnawed through and except for a few small pieces under a Yucca plant in the back yard, they disappeared. PACK RATS!!

When we first moved to the desert, there was a family of them living under one of the Yucca’s in our back yard. These pesky creatures will scavenge practically anything from plastic, old wood and plant material, to build their nests. They are unrelenting, and if an opening can be found, will get into the outer walls of your home to live.

We asked around and were told rat traps were the ticket. I have a long history of hating to kill things, but it seemed it was the best way to manage this destructive situation. Sparing the details, I sucked it up, and within a couple of weeks, the family was dispatched. All was well in our little back yard.

As a preventive measure, we trimmed the Yuccas so that there was no place to hide underneath their long and human-unfriendly leaves.

Back to the present…

When the Agave leaves began to disappear, we made the decision to set the traps again. For the uninitiated, rat traps are NOT mouse traps. They look like mouse traps on steroids. They are big, the springs very powerful, and like their ‘mousey counterparts’ have hair triggers.

Rats, on the other hand, are smart. The first go was cheese. Rats visiting our back yard do NOT like cheese, or at least our rats do not. Peanut butter, we were told…that’s the ticket. So peanut butter it was. There is little doubt rats love the stuff. They also apparently are able to ‘lick the platter clean’ without setting off the traps! That didn’t work!

If confession is good for the soul, in spite of their destructive nature, I was kind of glad we didn’t kill the little guys. Yeah, I know, Molly doesn’t get it either.

The grapefruit tree…

When the leaves began to disappear, we decided we needed a different approach. It wasn't just the leaves near the bottom, but whole ‘new growth' branches began to disappear. While there were more than sixty grapefruit ripening on the thing, it started to look like it was being given a haircut by some mysterious cosmic barber.

Since we had been outsmarted by the rat pack, we decided to get one of those 'catch and release' cages. For those reading this that hate these little creatures, I completely get it. I don't like them either. They seem to have only two missions in life: procreate and destroy property to build their nests. In both cases they are prolific. Unfortunately there don't appear to be enough carnivores in the desert to keep their populations down, so getting rid of them by whatever means is an absolute necessity. 

An aside: After talking to desert plant experts, destruction of the upper part of our little grapefruit tree was probably the work of bighorn sheep. A couple of years ago, they were reintroduced into the Catalina Mountains near our home. There have been recent sightings of them in our part of town. We found some hoof prints on the outside of our five-foot high wall. Apparently, that is not much of a barrier for a hungry jumping sheep.

At any rate, the trap was set - peanut butter placed on a small platform in the front of the cage. I put it in the backyard on a chilly desert night and retreated to the house wondering whether these little beasts would get the peanut butter and defeat the trap.

Success…

In the morning, there was a pretty good-sized rat in the cage wandering back and forth looking for an escape. Not so my safely held captive. I realize these guys are exceedingly destructive, and I appreciate that if you get near them (as in the confines of a cage) they will gnaw on any digit that gets close - think George Orwell’s 1984. In spite of all of this, he was kind of cute.

He and I were going for a drive into the desert…a drive of no return for one of us. I asked Molly if she wanted to come. The answer was an abrupt "No!" She did, however, put newspaper on the floor of the front seat of the car, in case the little fellow had an accident during our trip.

After driving several miles to a state park, we parted company as earlier described. It was going to be up to him to find a way to survive in his new environs. There was not a house in sight!

Possibly the bigger issue is those bighorn sheep. I’m not certain how we are going to deal with them.

I wonder if they like peanut butter?

- ted

A small blogalog...

“A good traveler has no fixed plans,

and is not intent on arriving.”

– Lao Tzu

It was cold and rainy in Aberdeen, but the visit was productive and the colleagues warm and gracious.

Two days later, it was to Prague where it was colder and rainy, but the visit was productive and the colleagues warm and gracious. The hotel and adjacent restaurant, on the Břevnov Monastery Grounds, provided a warm haven from the cold. I did not take this outdoor photo, but it gives an idea of the grounds.

Three days later it was to London, where it was colder yet and rainy, but my colleague was warm and gracious.

Hmmm…there seems to be a pattern developing here.

I have been writing a travelogue for two decades. It started as a simple email to a friend in my church, and by now is a list of one-hundred and fifty people. It has been focused on overseas trips, and I have enjoyed writing every one of them. This last month or so, I found myself heading from Boston straight to Singapore – home for five days and to Europe from which I have just returned.

No travelogues emerged from these adventures because I have written about these places before. The trips were mostly business with little downtime – there wasn't much new to say…not to mention it was cold and rainy everywhere.

London, however, is worth mentioning. There is nothing as over the top and at the same time intimate about London in the holiday season. I had a meeting with a colleague after which we wandered through Leicester (Lester) Square and Piccadilly Circus (not a real circus, but a part of the heart of London) on our way to a musical in the West End theater district. There were brilliantly illuminated strands of light hung between buildings above the streets.

By the time we started walking to the theater, it had stopped raining. The streets were cram packed full of people enjoying the evening. Every few blocks, there were small concert venues where ‘artists of the day' were playing and singing their songs. Crowds of people gathered around bobbing up and down and dancing to the rock-based beats. And, by the way, it was a Thursday night!

The show, ‘Kinky Boots,’ was energetic, fun and entertaining. It was probably not a show I would have chosen on my own, but I had seen most of the bigger musicals before. As it turns out, had I not chosen it, I would have missed a very entertaining evening. The audience was interactive, and all had a good time.

Friday, I had a day to myself and took a day trip to Oxford, England – the home of Oxford University and interior setting for much of the Harry Potter films (photo - Potter dining room through a keyhole).

The primary reason for visiting, however, was because Molly and I are fans of the BBC mystery series Inspector Morris, Inspector Lewis, and Endeavor, all of which are filmed there. I had no agenda for the day. It was the ambiance and 'familiar' settings I wanted to see. 

I took a walking tour and visited four or five of the thirty-eight colleges that make up the University system. All of them were interesting, and because of the detective series, had a recognizable feel to them.

Notable things I saw were the Magna Carta, a handwritten copy of a single page of Mary Shelly’s novel Frankenstein, and an original copy of the Gutenberg Bible

I learned no visit to Oxford is complete without a visit to the Turf Tavern, a setting for the popular BBC series Inspector Morris, and the place where Bill Clinton apparently did "...not inhale..." a questionable illegal substance. I felt obligated to take a pint, you know, for historical reasons.

The day ended at the top of the University Church Tower, from where there were breathtaking views of the campus.

Returning to my hotel Friday evening, I felt the day had been fruitful and fun. I am uncertain whether I will ever have this opportunity again, but as has happened many times in my life, my appetite was whetted to once again explore the unexplored and the unknown. 

Saturday morning it was back to Arizona and the satisfaction of time well spent with a small adventure or two tucked away in my heart….

– ted

Quiet in Aberdeen...

“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity;

an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”

– Winston Churchill

It’s quiet here in Aberdeen this morning.

While the temperature is in the high thirties (38 F – 3 C), the little apartment I’m sharing with my colleague Uffe, is downright toasty. We’ve struggled to get our temporary home balanced, and since each room has its own heating unit, balance is a delicate thing.

We are staying at the Skene House Holburn in the downtown district.  Established in the 1970s Skene Houses were the first traditionally styled apartment hotels in the U.K.

 

The internet description reads:

“Skene House Holburn is classic, chic and cheek by jowl with Union Street and Aberdeen's West End. Inside there's thirty-nine 1,2 & 3 bedroom apartments with six different interiors mixing class with comfort.

Step outside, climb a cobbled road and explore the bars and restaurants of Union Street. Pop round the corner and you're in Rose Street and Thistle Street.  Here macarons, mocha and Bubblegum Candyland ice cream rub shoulders with haute couture in a potpourri of cafes and boutiques.”

Chic, in this case, suggests comfy and appointed in the style of earlier generations and this place is every bit of that. The expression “…cheek by jowl…” means, in this case, ‘close by physical proximity.’  It is located, as its advertisement suggests, in close walking distance from most anything one might want to do in the downtown area of the city.

While I slept well the first two nights, the ‘nectar of the gods’ this morning was an ounce or two short and sleep ended at 3 AM. That’s the thing about traveling internationally, the mostly predictable night visions become erratic. I am grateful when getting a full cup, and accepting when I do not.

Sitting here this morning, ‘accepting’ is the operative word as I sort through the astonishing (to me) results of our presidential election at home. Several weeks before the election, I stopped watching the news (an earlier blog), because the non-stop ‘lowest common denominator’ coverage was toxic to my sensibilities. The negative sensations were visceral and genuinely hurt mentally, and physically.

I have written before about how important voting is to me. I feel a genuine connection to the system under which we live in America. It is not quite as dramatic, but like standing on the cusp of the Grand Canyon for the first time. There is a feeling of insignificance and being part of the whole universe at the same time - the convergence of humility and awe. Voting does that for me too...insignificance, yet a part of the fabric of the broader American Democratic Republic.

I voted for Hillary Clinton. I did so for reasons of moral character…not for the lesser of two evils. I believed her of better character and because of her historical track record for women and children. It was a pragmatic decision.  The continuous negative narrative about her was just that – a narrative. I get it. It is the way our system operates.

I did not vote for Mr. Trump, not because I disapproved of his policies – in fact, beyond hyperbole, I am uncertain what they are. I did not vote for him because of my mother and father. I was taught that character counts based on a deeply rooted value system of respect, justice, and honor. Even if I knew what Mr. Trump’s policies were, and if I agreed with them, I would not have voted for a man whose values are the opposite of everything of moral significance I believe.

This piece is not intended to litigate the self-right superiority of my choice, nor an attempt to justify my candidate decision. It's about balance...the balance of the universe. It is about acceptance. Acceptance of the will of a majority of American people for someone who strongly resonated with their sense of impotence and disenfranchisement from a government that they feel has not heard them.

Parenthetically, I would suggest, minorities in our country have always felt disenfranchised and will continue to do so. 

This piece neither is intended to litigate the ‘popular vote vs. electoral college’ argument, because my choice did not win. My opinions were not on the winning side. Having said that, I am grateful to have participated.

This piece is intended to say none of us knows what the future will bring. It is meant to suggest that history, in the broadest of brushstrokes, was interrupted by the injection of an experimental form of government, spawned by an idea. America was not born from the bowels of monarchy or oligarchy, but rather from a set of ideas…powerful ideas of safety and freedom from oppression.

The principal framers of this experiment were not fully Christian, but Deists. George Washington, John Adams, and Andrew Jackson were Christian Deists. Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson Christian skeptic Deists and Thomas Paine was a non-Christian Deist. Deism, in essence, teaches God created and set the universe in motion based on a set of ethics, then left it alone. It teaches He simply allows it to unfold according to natural law. We will see how our grand experiment balances itself and moves forward. 

The American Founders began this experiment, believing it would unfold for better or worse according to the process God set forth.

The experiment continues, the future unknown and I feel blessed to be sitting quietly "...here in Aberdeen this morning."

- ted