Squeaks

A couple years ago, Lili's beloved cat - Peachy Roo - died a sudden and mysterious death. Since then, we have acquired some guinea pigs (the two "girls" we bought had babies) and a wonderful, black cat named Smokey. Lili picked Smokey out as a birthday present for Sophie a year and a half ago. I loved this generous act of Lili's - especially since her cat had recently died. Smokey was rescued from a shelter and there was something about him that made him irresistible. Now this post isn't about Smokey, but let me just say that I have had many cats in my life and this is definitely the sweetest cat I have ever lived with. I call him Ghandi. Let's leave it at that.

Last year Lili really wanted a Leopard Gecko for a pet and I foolishly agreed before I researched it further. I really didn't think this would be a big deal and I wanted Lili to have a pet - especially because she really knows how to behave with animals. As the oldest of our young kids, Lili is the gentlest and most kind when it comes to animal care. So last year, we drove to the reptile store and checked out the geckos. The more questions I asked the reptile guy, the less I wanted to invest time and money into a pet that it seemed obvious that I would have to take care of. I did something that I regret to this day and will for the rest of my history as a mother. I told Lili in the pet store that I had changed my mind and she could not get a Leopard Gecko. The deal was off. To say that Lili was crushed would be an understatement. I'm sure that there will be a day (I'm guessing some time when Lili is in her 20's) that I will be sitting in a therapist's office looking at my daughter and making amends for this mistake. I have apologized to Lili for the poor way that I handled this situation but I know it was very painful for her at the time.

So now, Lili is about to turn nine and has been asking for a rat for the past several months. She didn't know it, but Andy and I had discussed getting her a kitten for her birthday. But Lili has really been pushing for a rat and one day, it just dawned on me..."why not?" So this past Monday, we set out to buy Lili a rat for an early birthday present. The "baby" rats at PetSmart looked suspiciously old and rodent-y and I just didn't think I could take the leap. I knew Lili wanted a rat 'today!' and our options weren't looking very good. We got in the car and started driving and I got the impulse to check out the reptile place - even though their sign said they sold reptiles and fish. But, where there are reptiles...there are usually rodents... So we went in and asked. The guys said they had "tons" of rats (I had to resist running out right then and there) and took us into the back room to view them.

I can't describe the squalor that these poor rats were living in. Picture a wall of drawers. The guy would open a drawer and rats would pour out of the drawer. (OK, not really pour, but they would stand up on their hind legs and try and climb out, and I noticed the guy would jerk his hand back, making me think that he had just had a rat bite.) There were drawers labeled small, medium, and large and there was also one especially creepy drawer marked "guards" - which the guy assured me were the "meanest rats" of all. I felt faint. But there was one drawer that had one tiny, white rat in it. And that of course is the rat that Lili picked. This baby rat didn't look too healthy, but he/she sure was cute...and little.

Well, we got her home (Lili wants her to be a girl) and honestly, she is as cute as can be. I said a little prayer as walked into the house that this pet would bless our home with its presence and hopefully be as divinely perfect for us as Smokey has proven to be. I hoped that we would get a lot of satisfaction from this little being. And that is exactly what has happened. This rat is the sweetest little being She snuggles up and sleeps on my shoulder and Lili has been holding her and loving her since the moment we got home with her. "Squeaks" likes to wash her face and make little rat sounds at us and she seems friendly, inquisitive and smart. And the best part is that she has never bitten anyone. (Our guinea pigs have bitten us since the very first day of residence here, and have no interest in us at all.)

So, all is well in pet land for today...and that is a good thing.

Little Farm Miracle

Well, I hope I can do this story justice. I've been meaning to write it for several days now. As you know, we are doing a shared garden with our neighbors. Once we really started looking at the amount of space we had, and measured out the beds, we realized we have a huge plot! I invited another family to participate with us - officially making this a community garden. I could not be happier at how this is turning out. I feel so pleased deep in my heart that we will all come together and grow food - 3 families, many children, much experience, good company.

The only cloud on the horizon was the neighbor directly to the north of the garden space. I had overheard that he was not happy about us doing a garden so close to his property (in fairness to him - he has enjoyed virtual open space for years, with no activity near his property line.) This made me feel uncomfortable. I have never met this neighbor (or his family) and didn't want to intrude on his space, nor did I want the enjoyment of my garden curtailed by an unfriendly neighbor resenting my presence. What to do?

This past Sunday, we met with the third family to show them the plot and discuss details. I met Eric on the path and he explained that Jill would be joining us shortly, she was just feeding their friends' chickens, close to where our garden is. I asked him where exactly this house was, and guess what? It's the house right next to our garden, with the guy that didn't want us to have the garden! It turns out that they are very close to this family - they even home school their daughters together.

Do you ever get glimpses of fate working? Like sometimes we are so close to the tapestry of our life that we can only see the messy strings, but sometimes, in moments of divine grace, we can see the front of the tapestry and see the beautiful picture of our life, and it makes sense in a deep, internal, knowing way? Well, this felt like one of these moments unfolding. All of a sudden, it made more than perfect sense that we had asked Eric and Jill to share the garden with us, and it was perfect that they were good friends with this man who had grumbled about our garden, and just wait until you read what happened next!

So I shared with our new gardening partners that their friend was not happy about the garden and asked them to serve as "ambassadors" to smooth the way. They both assured me that he would get over it and not to worry about it, but I was still nervous. There we all were, congregating in the garden space, in plain view of the house, and out came the man, just back from his vacation. I was so nervous! He walked over to the fence and said hello to all of us. Then he went on to admit that he wasn't too happy about idea of our garden. I was so glad that he came out and named the "elephant in the room." We all let him speak his mind and really, it turned out that he was afraid that we weren't going to actually follow through and that he would just be looking at an unfinished project - an eyesore. I assured him that our garden would be a thing of supreme beauty for him to look at and that we would respect his family's privacy.

The more we all talked, the softer he got. He even said "I came out here thinking, you know, I could be against this garden, or this could be an opportunity for me to meet my neighbors." And we told him we were so glad he had. By the end of the meeting, he was offering his sand box and trampoline for our kids to play in, saying "the kids might need something to do if you're out here gardening" and he picked Sophie up to help her over the fence so she could look at his chickens. And the best part of all was when he leaned in close, with a smile on his face and said: "Let's do this...the next time you guys are going to have a big gardening day, let me know and I'll make a big pot of french-pressed coffee, and we'll make an occasion out of it."

Andy and I walked away full of joy and gratitude that our encounter had gone the way it had. Andy had tears in his eyes. I know this sounds corny, but I felt like our little garden was already bearing fruit (love) and we haven't even started planting!!! Yea.