Cat and Mouse

I'm a brave , brave mouse I go marching round the house
And I'm not afraid of anything. For danger I'm prepared,
And I'm never scared, Never sacred?
No!
I'm not afraid of anything.
by Betty Misheiker

For  a  while  now  we  have  had  a  mouse  in  the  house,  we  have  seen  the  signs .........   the corners  nibbled of  the  bread if  it  has  not  been  put  back in  the  bread  bin,  the  mouse  droppings found  here  and  there  when  you  are  tidying drawers  and  cupboards,  a  sighting  now  and  again,  and  we  have  heard  the  cat  chasing  something  up  and  down  the  passage  in  the  middle  of  the  night,  but  hey,  we  live  in  Africa  so  expect  to  have a  few  wild  animals  in  the house......  we actually   have  two  cats,  Rocky is  the  lover,  a  big  fat  cat with  about  at  much  energy  as  a  polar bear  during  hibernation  and then  there  is  Peroni .......... Peroni  is  the  cat  that  our  dog  found,  bedraggled  and  sick,  and  brought  home  when  he  was just  a  few  weeks  old,  and  although  he  gets  the  same  attention  as  Rocky  he  has  never  warmed  to us  humans,  he  is  aloof  and  hates  to  be  held,  he  has  remained  the   street  cat,  Peroni  is  the  fighter .............. the  bird  catcher............  the  locust  catcher ............. the  frog catcher ..............  the  mouse  catcher..................
This  morning  when  I got  up,  Peroni  was  in mouse catching  mode underneath  the  bookshelf in  the  passage,  after  very  careful  investigation   I realised that    the  mouse  had  gone  behind  the  bookshelf  and  was  hovering in  no  mans  land   between  the  wall and  the shelf.
It  was  one  of  those  candid  camera  moments  never  to  be  repeated ......as  I moved  the  bookshelf  the  mouse  dropped,  I  ran  screaming,  jumped  on  the bed  just  in  case  the  mouse  attacked  me ........
I  mean  it  was  all of  6  cm  long  and  a  wild  animal ..........  okay  i  am  scared  of  mice ...... all hell  broke  loose,  as  books  and  ornaments  went  flying  in  all directions  the  war  between  cat  and  mouse  was  on ........ as  I  stood  on  the  bed  I  could  only  imagine from the  noise  what  was  going  on,  but  I was  sure...  that  the  one  I  was  backing  to  win this "Cat  versus Mouse"  contest  would  be  victorious .........and  then  there  was silence ..............
When  I  was  sure  that  both  cat  and  mouse  were  gone,  I ventured  from  my  place  of  safety  on  top  of  the  bed  feeling  ridiculous  I  mean  we  are  talking   mouse  here...........  I  carefully  tiptoed  through the  house and checked   for  signs  of  cat  or  dead  mouse  nothing ............
As  I  came  onto  the  veranda  there  was  the  cat  with  the  mouse  in  its  mouth,  wanting  to  bring  it  back  inside  as  a  present  for  me .............. I never  realised how  cruel  cats  are  I always  assumed  that  when  they  have  caught  their  pray  they  killed  it  and  ate  it.......  but  to  day  I  learnt that  is  not so,  Peroni  turned into  a  stadisic  killier,  he    tormented  this  mouse  so  much  I changed  who  I  was  routing  for,  if  it  tried  to  escape  he would  catch  in  and  then  throw  it up in  the  air,  then  he  would   let  it  think  it  had a  chance  to  escape  and  just  as  it  took off ,  to  what  it thought  was  freedom,  then  he  would grab  it  again,  returning  it  always  to  the  same  place.......

This  made  me  think  how  we humans   are  like  this,  how  sometimes  we  are  the  cat  and  sometimes  we  are  the  mouse.................  how  easily  we  let  those  who  are  stronger  than us take  over  our  lives,  take  over  what  we  do,  what  we  wear,  how we  talk, how  we think and  in  a  lot  of  cases  who  we  are ........................  .which  leave  me  with  a problem  do  I  want  to  be  a  cat  or  a  mouse.................... am  I  a cat  or   a  mouse ..................

Computer Mouse

For the last two days, i have been at head office, which is an experience in its self, why is it that some IT people just don't have any person skills, i think i was rather a culture shock to them, being the quiet, reserved person that i am.......................... (hahaha) they really had no idea how to deal, with my off the cuff comments., or my wit ............... On the first day people would come into the room and sit down, without saying a word, i know that my parents taught me when you enter a room you greet everyone before you sit down, as the people were coming in to the conference room i was asking who they were, which branch they were from, in the beginning you would have thought that i was an alien from another planet, but it was amazing how quickly they relaxed, and took part in the discussions.
The reason that i had to leave home at the crack of dawn for the last two mornings ( and boy were were those crack of dawns absolutely breath taking ) to get there was because we are going on a new computer system, and all the ground work has been completed and we were making sure that everything that we asked for had been done. We were going through all the features, that the system has to offer. I don't think there is anything more boring than watching someone else, operating a mouse, while you sit and watch.........................clicking here and clicking there showing you what all the features are.............. right click here and this happens left click there and that happens, tab and this happens, drag and this happens...........................
It made me start thinking, wouldn't it be great if our lives were that simple, if you do this for your husband he will do that for you................... if you do that for your daughter she will do that for you............................ if you ask for this you will get that ..... it you dont do this you won't get that..................................... if you make a mistake you can "delete" and "reinstate " and no one will know you made a mistake, if you use the wrong words, you can "bounce" them back and all will be as it was before the words were spoken.
Unfortunately life is not like that, and actions have consequences, and every decision we make will positively or negitively affect either ourselves or someone else how easy like would be if we could just use the "mouse." .............................. but...........................how boring would life be, no excitement , no joy, no expectations, no surprises, no unexpected acts of kindness, no sms's from friends, no unexpected coffee dates , no need for faith......................... and is that not what life is all about, embracing the unexpected, finding hope in the unknown having faith that God is in control and that he knows exactly where your life is going..................our responsiblilty it to pray that we do it right................. and the best part is, if we don't get it right today then God gives us tomorrow to try again............................. So i am glad that life is not controlled by a mouse.................. but by the choices i make every day whether they are right or wrong, whether the take me forward or backward, whether they bring me joy or sadness at least they are my choices. made with a lot of faith ...................................