What vacation isn't complete without a decomposing body?
Fret not - we have returned from our vacation in the great northwoods. It rained every single day of our trip. It didn't bother us too much since we don't really DO much while we're at the cabin every year. When it's not raining, we wander down to the lake. Some of us fish. Some of us catch frogs. Some of us talk on the phone because the reception gets slightly better the closer you get to the water.
Here's how much it rained. On the first morning of the trip, I drove "into town" and bought some fancy birdseed - some sort of nut and fruit blend. I then poured it into the feeder, which is really a flat wooden tray attached to the deck. We saw some blue jays, some chipmunks, and some small birds that I can't really identify because I am not a bird person. Anyway, a couple of days later, I checked the feeder because it seemed like our wildlife friends were not staying long. Get this: some of the seeds had sprouted. That's how much it rained. They looked like a bunch of little alfalfa spouts that you'd put on a sandwich. So, I scraped it all off and then refilled the feeder. Before long, we had customers again.
The most exciting event of our trip also happened on our first full day there. My husband and daughter were down by the lake. Our friends joined us on Sunday, so this was before their arrival. Gretchen, our female Boxer, grabbed a fleece blanket that was thrown over a loveseat and dragged it across the cabin and into the kitchen, where I was standing. My dogs are pretty old so they don't really bother with a lot of tomfoolery anymore. "Gretchen! What the hell are you doing?" She dropped the blanket so I picked it up to see why it had interested her so. It smelled awful. Plus, part of it was wet. What the heck? I wondered if she had lost her mind and peed on it or something. Then I saw it: a decomposing mouse that had apparently been clinging to the blanket at the time of its passing. The wetness was . . . the mouse's bodily fluids. Blech.
I wadded up the blanket and then ran outside onto the deck. I flung the mouse carcass over the side railing and then tried to figure out what the heck to do with the blanket. It belongs to my friend who owns the cabin, so burning it seemed to be out of the question. There is no washer and dry at the cabin. So, I stuck the blanket in the shower and then gave it, well, a shower. The next day I shoved it into a garbage back, drove back "into town," and washed it at a laundromat.
Our friends arrived the next day so we spent the next few days playing games and just hanging out. We did go hiking at a state park one day, which was a lot of fun. I was glad that our kid had some other kids to play with. Before and after our friends were at the cabin with us, she mostly just complained about the lack of wifi.
We played a lot of games. I bought Battleship, more out of nostalgia than anything, I think. One day the kid and I were playing it. We sat at a card table while Gretchen snoozed on the loveseat next to us. It so happened that Gretchen's head was facing A's side of the table.
"Gretchie, where are her ships?" I asked. "What's that? B9?"
So I called out B9 and as luck would have it, it was a hit. The kid got pretty mad. "That's cheating! It's not fair!" So then I pretended to confer with Gretchen for my next move. Well, the kid lost her shit at that point. She was SO mad, stomping around and calling me a cheater. I should mention that Gretchen was mostly unconscious the whole time.
After eight nights, we had had enough quality family time and headed home. I asked my boss if I could have an extra day off just to scratch my mosquito bites and he just laughed. I'm guessing that a day off to catch up on my DVR is also out of the question.
Here's how much it rained. On the first morning of the trip, I drove "into town" and bought some fancy birdseed - some sort of nut and fruit blend. I then poured it into the feeder, which is really a flat wooden tray attached to the deck. We saw some blue jays, some chipmunks, and some small birds that I can't really identify because I am not a bird person. Anyway, a couple of days later, I checked the feeder because it seemed like our wildlife friends were not staying long. Get this: some of the seeds had sprouted. That's how much it rained. They looked like a bunch of little alfalfa spouts that you'd put on a sandwich. So, I scraped it all off and then refilled the feeder. Before long, we had customers again.
The most exciting event of our trip also happened on our first full day there. My husband and daughter were down by the lake. Our friends joined us on Sunday, so this was before their arrival. Gretchen, our female Boxer, grabbed a fleece blanket that was thrown over a loveseat and dragged it across the cabin and into the kitchen, where I was standing. My dogs are pretty old so they don't really bother with a lot of tomfoolery anymore. "Gretchen! What the hell are you doing?" She dropped the blanket so I picked it up to see why it had interested her so. It smelled awful. Plus, part of it was wet. What the heck? I wondered if she had lost her mind and peed on it or something. Then I saw it: a decomposing mouse that had apparently been clinging to the blanket at the time of its passing. The wetness was . . . the mouse's bodily fluids. Blech.
I wadded up the blanket and then ran outside onto the deck. I flung the mouse carcass over the side railing and then tried to figure out what the heck to do with the blanket. It belongs to my friend who owns the cabin, so burning it seemed to be out of the question. There is no washer and dry at the cabin. So, I stuck the blanket in the shower and then gave it, well, a shower. The next day I shoved it into a garbage back, drove back "into town," and washed it at a laundromat.
Our friends arrived the next day so we spent the next few days playing games and just hanging out. We did go hiking at a state park one day, which was a lot of fun. I was glad that our kid had some other kids to play with. Before and after our friends were at the cabin with us, she mostly just complained about the lack of wifi.
We played a lot of games. I bought Battleship, more out of nostalgia than anything, I think. One day the kid and I were playing it. We sat at a card table while Gretchen snoozed on the loveseat next to us. It so happened that Gretchen's head was facing A's side of the table.
"Gretchie, where are her ships?" I asked. "What's that? B9?"
So I called out B9 and as luck would have it, it was a hit. The kid got pretty mad. "That's cheating! It's not fair!" So then I pretended to confer with Gretchen for my next move. Well, the kid lost her shit at that point. She was SO mad, stomping around and calling me a cheater. I should mention that Gretchen was mostly unconscious the whole time.
After eight nights, we had had enough quality family time and headed home. I asked my boss if I could have an extra day off just to scratch my mosquito bites and he just laughed. I'm guessing that a day off to catch up on my DVR is also out of the question.
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