Day 204: Today is National Gorgeous Grandma Day, and I happened to have two of the most gorgeous grandmas, ever. Did you know that yesterday was Rat Catcher's Day? It was also Parents Day, and, well, I'm spending a whole year on them, but rat catchers? Who knew they had a day?
It all goes back to the fabled German town of Hamelin, whose townsfolk asked the Pied Piper to lure the rats away with his music. When the townsfolk didn't pay up for his services, however, he came back and lured away all the children. Gulp. The Brothers Grimm scared us straight about paying our exterminator bills with that story, as did Robert Browning in his poem The Pied Piper of Hamelin.
My Grandma Evy once told me "Mice may be endearing in stories, but never in my pantry," during a conversation we had about my reading of Stuart Little. I remember it well, because it was a kindred spirit moment, when I knew she felt exactly the same way I did about vermin. I'm certain she would have included rats in this sentiment, too.
I am grateful to modern-day exterminators who rid our lives of the vermin that scurry in the shadows. And I'm grateful for a gorgeous grandma who made me feel okay about shrieking atop the kitchen table when I spot a mouse. She's right. I like literary mice, not literal ones.
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