Truce Broken and Hostilities Resume!

I'd rather not be reading all about it.

January 19, 2022

About two years ago several foxes moved into my neighbourhood, and as a result soon afterward, those unwanted rodents I hate began disappearing. For the next 18 to 20 months I couldn't even report a single sighting of a rat.

One of the much welcomed members of the peace-keeping team.

Alas, these wonderful peacekeepers pulled out,  and soon afterward, those enemy infiltrators started making occasional appearances.

And now...

 

Blizzard warnings lifted after major snowfall hits southern Ontario

This was one of the many news headlines from this past Monday, the 17th, which attest to the 12 to 15 inches of snow received. 

Now I understand what Charlie meant

Of course Tuesday meant a major snow clearing at home, (as well as everywhere else) and while doing this task I made an unwanted discovery... fresh rat tracks on top of the new fallen snow. Worse, their tracks were present and numerous around every basement window my home has. 

No doubt those hated pests have been home-hunting... and they ain't going to move inside here!!

After all the snow clearing was done, I dug out all my rat traps from my shed, baited them, and then set them out on those rat trails trails near my windows.

This morning I took a quick peek out the front door to check the one trap I could see without having to step outside, and sure enough that trap had been triggered... but alas, no victim. 

After my morning coffee I headed outside to reset the tripped trap and check the others... and I was pleasantly surprised.

Strike One! This casualty was found outside my back basement window.

Strike Two! This dead pest was captured outside my front basement window.

I'll make no apologies whatsoever for fighting back, and if these unwanted detested critters insist upon trespassing around here, then they'll do so at their own peril.

Like I said... they ain't moving indoors here!

So stay tuned to this station.

The Oddblock Station Agent

News Bulletin

War is hell and blood has been spilled. 

(The following image and narrative may be troubling and/or disconcerting to some readers, so be fore-warned.)

Less than two hours after the first enemy casualties were confirmed and recorded another unwanted trespass and skirmish ensued.

After cleaning and resetting my traps around 07:45, I went out just after 10;15 to clear more snow. Monday two days ago we received upwards of 12 to 14 inches of snow in about 12 hours. Anyway and right away, this scene of bloodied snow caught my attention. 

Believe me red on fresh white snow is hard to miss.

My first thought was that a welcomed predator (also an ally) had discovered the trapped rat and finished it off. A lack of confirming footprints in the fresh snow confirmed this wasn't the case.

Shades of Jack Reacher, Batman!!!

(I watched that movie last night for the first time ever.)

The rat had been snagged by the leg and the varmint chewed through it's entire leg to escape. Yeah... and I confirm that's what went down, because when I was washing out the trap to reset it,  I discovered the rat's foot. After making this gruesome discovery I went and dug out a few cubic yards of snow hoping to find the rat and put it out of its misery, but no success.

Like I've said, I'll make no apologies whatsoever for fighting back... cause they ain't moving indoors here!

By the way... how did your day go?

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Yes, that's right!

Today, October 10, 2022, is Thanksgiving Day in Canada, and below is the turkey I discovered early this afternoon.

Following a week of squirrel troubles involving the engine of my car, shortly after noon, I made a cursory check under the hood... just to check if there were more sign's of trouble.

I did NOT expect this.

October 10, 2022, a dead rat discovered under the hood of my car.

At first I thought this was more chewed insulation, but the red, not that I wasn't seeing red already, made me take a closer look. A dead rat, and a huge one too.

After taking my photo, I donned a pair of disposable gloves and removed it. The carcass was wedged in there tightly, maybe because the rat was larger than I was expecting, so a fair amount of one-handed tugging was needed to get it out.

I'm not sure if this was the largest rat I've caught, but of not, then it's a close second. That detested thing was more than eight inches long NOT including its tail. I was also wondering whether or not this hated pest would've been too big for a rat trap to snag.

The same dead rat (gory side down) after I extricated it from where it was wedged.

The reason for my wondering is that I have no idea what killed this rodent or caused that gash... which was on the right side of its neck. I've pondering whether or not the is the victim of a turf war with that red squirrel that's been giving me car grief all week. I wish I could enlist whatever killed it.

Regardless, I'm happy this hated enemy soldier is dead.

By the way...

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

And no, I'm not being sarcastic, because I'm thankful this rodent is history, and joining a mouse I snagged in my attic first thing this morning.

Do I hate rodents?

Did today follow last night?

The Oddblock Station Agent

 

 

 

The Louise Book

 The Front Cover

 

Introduction

Wishful Thinking 

 Through the Looking Glass? That's only hot air,
And through that window, I won't venture there.

"May I ask, "Why not?"

"Because I'm the Spot."

 

If you want to know...

I've found this door and I do not jest,
For you to go through to be their guest.
First ask your mother, find out what she'll say,
Then follow along, you'll soon see the way.

Hello adventure!

 

 Scene 1

The Real Dashing Through the Snow...
(If you don't believe everything else you’ve been told)

Somewhere far out in the countryside
Louise and Audrey went for a slide.
Racing in and out of a mystery fog,
They even bounced over a burried log.

Watch out for the tree, we’re getting quite near.
Don’t worry about that, I know how to steer.
See? No hands! It’s really a breeze.
We'll slow a bit, I’m starting to freeze.

Who was that we just sped past?
I don’t know, we were going too fast.
Should we go back and take a look,
After we cross that frozen brook?

Like one little kitten I’ve lost a mitten,
Let's turn around here and go back to Tiffin.
Will Anna and Elsa still be there?

It’s a little too cold for more hot air.

Scene 2

Either Gilligan’s Island or Summer Daze in Utopia

And dazed we were, because this past July most of us didn’t get to travel to Utopia and meet up to celebrate Lou-Lou’s  4^th birthday. Such was and is the world with this Covid pandemic.

 

Is anyone out there curious enough to know whether or not the resident hamburger cooker breathed a sigh of relief because there wasn’t a need to barbecue dozens of hamburgers for a crowd that wasn't there on a hot summer day?

 

For the record, on one July day a year or two earlier, we got to see a drone demonstration in this same backyard, and in case you didn’t know, drones don’t go near water or swimming pools like this one, because if drones sink they become drowns.

 

On the other side of that railway track at the far end of the backyard is a small creek, well I’m assuming it’s small because I’ve never heard water flowing in it… and now it seems I’ve gotten off the track here.

 

Well today we find out that two famous adventurers seem to have gotten off the track too… perhaps instead I should say small creek, because they're in a rowboat and about to drop anchor off shore… except they’ve discovered they don’t have an anchor and swimming pools don't have a shore.

Anyway, these two chums made a navigational error somewhere, meaning they made a wrong turn, got lost and somehow ended up here… but in relation to here, it’s in that there "Cee-ment pond." (Quoting Granny's description)

 

Right away Louise points out that a rowboat doesn’t belong in the swimming pool, especially when people are already swimming in it… I meant people swimming in the pool and not in the rowboat.

 

Am I getting in over my head?

 

In unison Audrey and Louise shout, “Yes!”

 

Is the water really that deep?

 

Audrey’s analysis is different because she’s wondering how the boaters arrived here. She’s just asked Grandma, our dear math expert, if the swimming pool is downstream from the creek… I don’t know if it’s downstream but it’s not that far away. Maybe Audrey just meant downstream like in row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream.

 

With a little imagination I suppose a rowboat could have strayed this far off course, and as far as I know, no one thought to check on the wind direction at the time to determine whether or not the tiny ship was indeed blown off course. I point out this small detail because if you’ve ever watched episodes of Gilligan’s Island and listened to the words of the theme song, then you might agree this navigational error might have occurred and blew that Minnow off course.

 

So what should we do?

 

I think we should invite the guests to stay a while because there would be enough hamburgers to go around if we had any burgers, and if we had any, then there would also be enough to go around.

 

Now because we’ve said around a few times, doesn’t this sound like the description of a circle... such as that swimming pool?

 

Happy Birthday Louise!

 

P.S

 

When you’re older and read this again, the nonsense here might actually make sense.

Scene 3

What Makes Those Ticks Shall Soon be Fixed

Time was broken but now it’s untangled,
Nothing much more than having been mangled.
If America, this would be star spangled,
But the right answer is all that was wrangled.

Scene 4

Here's a Scene from the Wizard of Odd

Because the Wizard of Oz never looked like this before... and it's not likely to again.

Scene 5

Happy Birthday Louise

 

 

The Audrey Book

 The Front Cover

 

Scene 1

Hello Winter!

Or would you rather just say, "Good-bye winter and go get lost."

  

One day...

There’s nothing else she’d rather say,
Than snowflake, snowflake, go away.
Audrey didn’t have a really great day,
She learned that Snowflake was here to stay.

 If you've had enough of winter's snow,
There's something else you might want to know.
So let's see if we can turn things around,
To get the rest of this tale off the ground.

Another day...

So ​now we find Audrey a following day,
​And already she's out in​ the​ snow to play.
Winter. Winter. Please don't go away!
At least not yet​... I ​need more time for play.

 

"What are you waiting for?" Audrey does shout
"That cord is for you, please pull me about."

 Scene 2

Walking in the Winter Wonderland

    Reality:

Over the river, and through the wood—
oh, how the wind does blow!
It stings the toes and bites the nose
as over the ground we go.

(Lydia Maria Child)

   Maybe-ality:

Everyone’s out and walking about,
In new fallen snow with sunlight aglow.

“The toboggan’s too small!” Rupert cries,
“No cushion.” is what met Audrey’s eyes.

Looking ahead where she hasn’t tread,
“Where is my footprint?” Louise has said.

No worries here about taking a spill,
Because no one has found that nearest hill.

Let’s turn around now and head for home,
So Grandpa write the rest of this tome.

 

 Scene 3

Another Way the Cookie Might Crumble

Another fine mess, so it would seem,

No worries here, we do like to dream.

Sighs Poor Rupert Bear as he covers his eyes,

"I'm glad they weren't making homemade pies.

We wanted to decorate one or two cookies,

But only discovered we're a couple of rookies.

Though that sticky stuff was hardly enough,

Had it been more, things could've got rough.

All was not lost though when one of them asked, "Can we eat it now?"

And that's the way the cookie crumbled.

 Scene 4

A Lesson About Dashing Through the Snow

First, let’s read part of this familiar song that comes around one season a year…

Dashing through the snow,
On a one horse open sleigh,
O’er the fields we go,
Laughing all the way.

Aside from Rupert smiling, do you see anyone else here even smiling let alone laughing?

I didn't think so either. 

That's because we can see here what's really going on in the real world.

We shall back-pedal now and look at how things really are in Nutwood… and if you’ve ever wondered why Rupert lives in a place called Nutwood, then read on, because you’re about to figure that out.

Let’s look closely and find out what this picture tells us, because it should be good for a few hundred words if not a thousand, should anyone be keeping count.

First of all there’s no snow, and besides, right now no one’s dashing through anything. Behind Audrey is water, and she's standing in it too, but that’s about as close as any of them get to snow, because it’s not cold enough to snow.

Next… and assuming we even had a sleigh, it would be a none-horse sleigh, because that’s a donkey. As you can see it’s not pulling anything, because Rupert is riding on it, but just barely because he’s a bear, and besides, the donkey isn’t fast enough to dash.

Wait! Don’t go away yet.

Do you see anyone going o’er a field?

I didn’t think so either, because if you look again, you’ll see that everyone is in the woods and they’re just standing around talking… and so is that stand of trees… except they aren’t talking. A field might be on the other side of the woods but that doesn’t count here.

One last question... is anyone in the picture laughing?

Well… the closest we ever got to a yes is that we noticed earlier that Rupert was smiling, which means at least one participant was happy… so maybe that’s a start to laughing all the way... if they can all agree about where they're going.

Thus in Nutwood things are totally _____ . (fill in the blank)

Scene 5

More from the Wizard of Odd

Here's a scene a scene from the Wizard of Odd

A scene we've seen if ever there ______ 

Only because the Wizard of Oz has never looked like this before... 

and it's not likely to ever again.