Presidents’ Day Adventures

This was the twelfth year that we have taken three days in February and met two other couples in a state park for a mid-winter retreat.  Last year, 2021, was an adventure in a different way, thanks to the global pandemic.  Each of the six of us was quarantined for 10 days prior to the trip and maintained at least 6 feet away from each other while indoors.

               Still, thanks to the many walking trails and the wonderful size of the cabin, it wasn’t too much of a challenge and was a great time.

               Each year we go, we share a new adventure.  The first year was perhaps the strangest.  We were in a state park deep in West Virginia.  This park had a large field adjacent to our cabin and once you had walked through it you entered an immense forest.

               After walking about a half mile into this forest, I started noticing some disquieting things.  What I noticed was nothing.  I mean, absolutely nothing.  There were no birds tweeting or flying around.  There were no squirrels rustling.  No deer were seen, not even tracks.  There was simply no sound at all, save those of our footfalls and chatting.

               This started to bother me, as I am one of the oldest of the group and was – at that time – the plumpest.  If something awful in this forest was plucking off the living creatures, I was pretty sure I’d be the first to go.  After all, the group didn’t have to outrun the beast – just me!  And I was positive I was the slowest.

               We hiked another mile or so, and then, thankfully, found the main road.  We made it back safely (obviously, or I wouldn’t be relating this tale) to the cabin. 
               The haunted woods bothered me, though, and still puzzles me.  We have since found other state parks which have woods filled with sounds.  This is a comfort.

               I thought that was the strangest adventure we might have had until this year.  Fully vaccinated, we all arrived at the designated cabin and had a grand first evening.  However, on the second evening, only three of us stayed up to chat and nibble.  We gathered around the counter in the kitchen when we heard the first sound of something  by the refrigerator.  As the bravest of us went to investigate, he saw a mouse run across the floor and under the stove.

               We pulled the refrigerator away, and there was a second mouse, unperturbed by our light and noise, eating something out of a box.  We deduced this was some kind of trap, but it didn’t seem to be effective.  You’d have thought, from our behavior, that we were expecting to see moose or beavers behind the fridge.  We were that brave and that hysterical.

               So the next morning, two of our group went to town and bought mouse traps.  We set three of them out and within a couple of hours, we had successfully rid the cabin of three mice.  Later that evening, as we played games and drank margaritas, the traps snapped again.  And again.  And much later, again.

               Six mice in all. Now, it’s winter in the Midwest and obviously, mice try to come inside.  But we’d never had them before!  In twelve years, I’ve snapped photos of deer, squirrels, raccoons, chipmunks, and even a fox.  But we never saw or heard a mouse in any cabin we’ve rented.

               We left the cabin rodent-free. And no, I didn’t take a photo of any of the living mice.