Now, it seems funny, that last night before I went to bed I chose a picture of a rodent to accompany this post. At 2 am, I was woken up by a tapping noise close to my head. It sounded like a tiny animal was in the wall. When I got up to check it out, I thought I saw something move near a suitcase on the floor, but thought it was my sleepy imagination. Then I remembered the snacks that were in the suitcase for an upcoming trip. There aren’t many things I am actually, physically afraid of, but mice are one of them (snakes and heights are the others). I know it’s irrational, but when I see one, or even think there is one around, I feel afraid and can’t help squealing, whimpering and/or jump
Here in Central Oregon it is like someone flipped a switch that turned off summer and turned on fall. The wild fire smoke has been especially bad this year. We had many smokey days and nights where the unhealthy or even hazardous air quality caused us to keep all the windows and doors closed despite temperatures in the 90s and lack of air conditioning. The last thing I wanted to do was make the house hotter by cooking, and filling the hot house with the smell of food, and not be able to open the windows. So, I got creative and made many meals that did not require cooking. This is one of the salads I made using cucumbers from our garden. Ingredients: 3 cucumbers, peeled if skin is thick, cut
