Portrait of a Fixture

This morning I had a Keystone Kops moment with our animals.  When Oscar, our smallest cat, came barrelling around the corner with his nose to the ground, I was curious what he was doing.  When the dogs ran over to join him in the investigation I was worried.   When I lifted the backpack they were gathered around and saw the mouse dart out from under it, I was in hot pursuit.  At one point Oscar caught the mouse under a paw.  The mouse promptly collapsed, apparently dead.  Oscar lifted his paw to lean in and sniff.  The mouse sprang back to life and bolted under the ottoman.  The next fifteen minutes were spent tripping over dogs and cats, lifting pieces of furniture, and trying to catch him in a plastic bucket when the animals flushed him out.  Eventually the mouse prevailed by pulling a David Copperfield and vanishing into thin air.  Taryn seemed wholly unperturbed by the whole thing when she came downstairs and I told her.  She even took a flashlight to hunt around in the coat closet I thought he might have ducked into.  “It’s alright.  The critters will get him.” was all she had to say.  Since letting our cats become indoor-outdoor (backyard only) cats, we’ve had two “gifts” left for us.  I guess we’ll be getting a third sometime soon.

IMAGE: Shot in the cold, early morning light, this plumbing fixture is in the front office of a closed-down cotton processing mill in Franklinton, NC.