Ecch!

         During the winter, every night before going to bed, I would go outside to get an armful of firewood, so that it would be warm and dry in the morning, when I put it in the stove.  Sometimes the short trip out to the woodpile can be a memorable experience.  Once I was out at the woodpile in the dark and I saw a fox, with its nose sweeping back and forth along the ground, walking right toward me.  It seemed to be so focused on what it was trying to smell that I wasn’t sure if it knew I was standing right in front of it.

        The fox just kept coming in my direction, getting closer and closer to me.   It seemed totally unaware that I was there.  I started to get concerned, since it was getting so close, so finally I just made myself cough to make it realize I was there.  It stopped, looked up at me, then turned and started sniffing and rambling off in another direction.

        Another night I had different kind of memorable experience while getting the last load of firewood.  My wife was already asleep, and when I finished watching TV, I went out to get some wood.  I didn’t bother putting on my coat or gloves, since I wouldn’t be outside for very long.  First, I went to the woodpile and got two pieces of firewood which I cradled in my left arm.  

        “I should probably get some kindling too,” I thought.

        I keep several containers for kindling in the shop, and whenever I am working out there.  If I have a bit of leftover scrap wood, I throw it into one of the containers to use the winter for kindling.  I keep a  kindling container sitting by the door on the carport.  It is a tall deep thing, and at night the light hits the container sideways, so it is dark inside, but on this particular night, that didn’t seem like a problem; I could just feel my way to get wood out of the bottom.

        I reached in with my bare hand, and discovered the container was pretty much empty, I did feel one piece of kindling, and I swept my hand around in the bottom to see if there were any small pieces.  I felt a small chunk of wood, and something else, which I assumed was a bit of bark.  So I gathered it all up with my right hand and with both hands full, I managed to open the door and go into the house.

        When I got into the laundry room and into the light, I looked down at my right hand to see what kind of kindling I had, and I got quite a shock.  There in my hand was a short piece of board, a small chunk of wood, and a flat, desiccated, corpse of a mouse.  Since I already had it in my hand, I took this photo so I could share it with you.

 

    

View my paintings at:  davidmarchant2.ca