A shower is possible early. Partly cloudy skies this evening will become overcast overnight. Low 49F. Winds light and variable..
A shower is possible early. Partly cloudy skies this evening will become overcast overnight. Low 49F. Winds light and variable.
There is a large plastic bin ferreted away in a closet here at El Rancho Davis. Stacked neatly inside this gigantic receptacle is a remarkable collection of Disney animated feature length films, and a smattering of other worthy Hollywood cinematic classics, largely geared to the interests of small children. All of them are in VHS format, rendered useless by the demise of all devices required to play them. Not having to remember to rewind seemed like such a great leap forward at the time.
Thirty years ago our youngest child was 3 years old and a devoted watcher of all things Disney. I, at the same time, worked from 4:00 to midnight, earning by default the opportunity to spend my days watching TV shows like David the Gnome, and The Little Bits (I may be remembering that second title erroneously.) Both before those two shows and after, I was subjected. by my inability to tell my little girl no, to sitting through the likes of Bambi, Robin Hood (played by an animated fox), and Cinderella.
But her favorite was The Great Mouse Detective. Sherlock Holmes and his pal Watson in pursuit of Ratigan, the most evil villain this side of Uncle Scar. Ratigan was voiced by Hollywood legend Vincent Price, and he had a ball making the Bad Guy as over the top as he could. The nasty rodent was determined to kidnap Queen Victoria (a right plump old mouse she was) and replace her with a robot of his own invention, while he pulled the strings of monarchial reign behind the scenes. Sooo nefarious!
The plot also, of course, involved a sad little waif-girl mouse whose Grandpa mouse had been kidnapped by Ratigan to build the robot Victoria mouse he had designed. So much tragedy in one 90 minute cartoon! It was more than a poor little three year old human girl could bear. So naturally, we watched it five or six times a day.
There must be a special place in heaven for a Dad who watches the same animated movie 500 times. I’m banking on it. I never expected my brain to become a dumping ground for animated kids’ movies, but there you have it.
I’ve spent all these words to bring you to this:
On the day that Queen Elizabeth II passed away, life transformed me into a Not-So-Great Mouse Detective. Like millions of others, I was planted in my recliner watching the coverage of the Queen’s demise when a motion on the floor below the TV caught my eye…a small, very cute little mouse had scurried from somewhere into my field of view. As I watched, fascinated at his boldness, this wee timorous cowering beastie scrambled up the face of the heat run under the living room’s bay window and trotted back and forth looking for a way to scale the wall to the window ledge.
I was moved to action, creeping from recliner to kitchen where I plucked a four-ounce dixie drinking cup from a cupboard, and an unopened piece of mail to slide under it once I had managed to capture the tiny rodent under the cup. I figured with my cat-like reflexes I could corral him on the first try. HA! That little blighter led me on a ridiculous chase through three rooms, squeezing behind bookcases and computer desks and popping out the other side, stopping to thumb his pointy little nose at me, with a gleeful glint in his eyes.
Unfortunately, my wife happened to come through while I was waddling in a buffoonish duck walk behind my quarry, envelope in one hand and dixie cup in the other. Her first comment was “You’re gonna need a bigger cup.”
At that precise moment I cornered the little guy and slapped my paper cup over him…well, over half of him…the rear half. The front half squeaked in surprise and I quickly lifted the cup a billionth of an inch so as not to injure him. That was all he needed to be gone and out of sight.
It might have occurred to you by now to wonder where was Maizie the Magnificent Sheltie during this excitement? She was stretched full length in front of the TV, barely raising her head. Couldn’t be bothered to throw her herding instincts into the fray. Lazy, worthless furbag!
I decided to take my wife’s advice and get a larger plastic cup, so I made a quick retreat to the kitchen cupboards and found a clear 12-ounce cup. By the time I got back to the scene of the action, the dog was up and there was a small lump of fur not far from where she stood, looking first at the fur bit, and then at me, repeatedly. The fur bit was, in fact, the mini rodent in serious distress. Maizie had obviously sprung into action and somehow (I think probably by stomping) delivered a mortal wound to the poor little waif mouse.
Unlike Sherlock Holmes, I placed the cup over the inert little form, slid the unopened mail under him and proceeded to carry him out the front door, across the lawn and into the woods at the end of the El Rancho acreage.
Also unlike Sherlock, I felt a bit of a tug at the unfortunate passing of my adversary. I came back to find Maizie in a smoking jacket with a very Holmesian smoking pipe in her mouth. Ridiculous animal.
Contact Lloyd Davis at ldpsu74@yahoo.com
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The 2021 Athens Area High School Homecoming Parade was held on Wednesday, Oct. 6.
Scenes from the Sayre Homecoming Parade
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