Today has mostly been about enforcing boundaries.
It’s the time of year when mice come into the house. Who can blame them? It’s wet outside. The temperature’s dropping. Food is getting scarce.
A (relatively) warm house with crumbs dropped here and there is a lot more attractive than a pile of old leaves in the garden.
So they come inside.
Lots of them. It’s an old house and they can always find new ways in, it seems.
Don’t get me wrong. I really like mice. They’re cute, funny, smart and sweet. All things being equal, I’d happily share space with them. There’s something very gently satisfying about seeing one scurrying around as I sit in front of of the fire in the darkness of an autumn or winter night.
But….
There’s the little question of hygiene. And their tendency to chew through electric wiring, among other things.
Cohabitation is not really an option.
I have a boundary and it needs enforcing.
I don’t need to do so violently or viciously. I mean what kind of a bastard would I be to punish a mouse for doing the most understandable thing in the world – finding a safe, warm place to eat and live? How can I justify punishing a mouse for being a mouse?
But still, you know… boundaries.
So today has mostly involved hearing the rattle of an angry critter who’s followed the smell of sunflower seed into a trap, then hopping in the car, driving them to a ruin a few miles away from here, saying farewell as he or she scoots away into freedom, unable to believe their luck.
I’ve done that four times today. The day’s not over yet.
I know they may not survive. I know they may become fox- or owl-food. It’s not what I want for them, but there are limits to my responsibility, and my ability to control what happens in the world.
I enforce my boundaries as kindly as I can – without doing more harm than I must – knowing that sometimes others will be hurt by what I choose.
Many people talk of compassion. Fewer practice it. I don’t suppose I’m much better at it than anyone else, but we must try. We must try to live together where we can, enforce boundaries where we must, and remember, always, to neither punish nor expect punishment for the simple act of being a living creature in this world.