Well Rats!

If I were a Twitter person I'd have Twittered this but since I'm not I give it to you here.

Due to circumstances just barely within my control the dog got a longer walk for her last one tonight. We headed down an elegant residential block with a lot of foliage that Em was giving the long once over and were about halfway to the middling seedy avenue that would take us home when RATS! Two RATS! running straight at us!!!!! Intellectually even in the moment I knew they were heading toward the shelter of trees or flowers near us and not actually at us. I knew that there was no reason on earth they would want to get any closer to us, they were trying to flee us but it sure felt like they were headed right over to nibble us from the toenails up. And I was wearing shorts!

I yanked the dog, yelled at her to come and ran all the way back to the previous avenue at full tilt boogie in my flapping sandals and jangling key lanyard with my blissfully ignorant dog. She's not tempted to chase small animals much. So much the better on a night like this.

I am not petrified or phobic of rats. I don't get utterly freaked if I see them in pictures or a movie or something but they aren't my favorite. I lived in Chinatown for the love of Pete, we had rats the size of my freaking head! I worked at the River Cafe, the owner bought special dogs to keep the rats at bay! I am not unfamiliar with the phenomenon of large populations of humans being cleaned up after by large populations of rodentia. I don't like to dwell on the thought of their little claws and ropy tails and long teeth and Paul Lynde voices, either, though. So, man that was icky! On the other hand I needed a little adrenaline bump tonight, I've been Roombaing around bumping into walls without making progress and a bit of a laugh at myself helped.

I think.