MOUSE DROPPINGS

I think their names were Gus Gus and Jocko – the mice in Walt Disney’s version of “Cinderella” who helped her escape her wicked stepmother and stepsisters and live happily ever after with the kingdom’s heir apparent. 

There are never any mouse droppings in Disney films. 

There were however, plenty in my garage. Evidently, the mice came for the cat litter, which contains wheat. One side of the garage had been cleaned up and I thought I was home free then I saw the mess on the other side. Actually, I saw the mess yesterday but was not about to clean up mouse droppings on Easter. 

So today, too tired to be brilliant but awake enough to clean, I swept and scrubbed. It soon became apparent that this, the storage side of the garage, had not been swept and cleaned for a very, very long time. I found artifacts of my own history that should have been dumped ages ago -- now dumped. And deep debris -- now banished. 

So I guess I am grateful. Well no, not grateful – instead I think I am, perhaps, grudgingly glad that I finally had unavoidable cause to clean the place up. 

Sometimes shit has a purpose. 

And sometimes it is good to be reminded that real mice leave droppings and there probably isn’t any such thing as happily-ever-after. 

But mostly happy is possible -- as is a clean garage.