R.I.P., R.O.U.S.

This morning I grabbed the umbrella and ran out in the rain to see if the Rodent Of Unusual Size (R.O.U.S.) had made it into his burrow. Last night when I checked on him he was resting on his doorstep. And, that's where he permanently rested, apparently too weakened to survive. How long he had been dead is hard to say.

While we were considering what to do with the critter, word spread fast within Makeni that we had a bush rat to be dispatched. At the very moment I was setting our soup and veggie patties on the table for lunch, Whiteson, one of Makeni's workers, arrived to take away the rat. We told him we weren't sure how long it had been dead, but he assured us, "Oh, it's still good!" He couldn't have been more excited. After he left we sat down and stared at our lunch. We took a few bites then busted out laughing. We kept chanting to ourselves, "This is split pea soup, this is a veggie patty. It is not rat!" Several times we almost lost our lunch. Tracy eventually had to give up eating, but I was able to finish.

I saw Whiteson later in the day and asked him if he had cooked the rat. "Oh, yes." Trying to act like there was nothing abnormal to me about this I asked if there was a lot of good meat on it. "Oh, yes, a lot of good meat!" he answered. With a smile I bid him farewell, thankful that the R.O.U.S. had not gone to waste.