Rats!

No, knock-on-wood, not the real kind.

There is a house just around the corner from ours that is known among the neighborhood kids as "The Rat House." The woman who owns the house (Melissa) always has one plastic rat in her front flower bed. In the time leading up to Halloween, she keeps adding to the rats (and the skeletons and the ghouls), each night, little by little, until she has a veritable army out there.

She also leaves out colored chalk and sidewalk stencils and loves it when the kids "play" with the rats. IEM and EPM love to walk to the Rat House. Although it is somewhat strange to see one's baby girl running around with two large plastic rats in her hand, happy as can be.

And I must say with some pride: IEM took all of the photos that accompany this story. Without any help from his dad. He really loves the camera, and I like the compositions he's getting.

They have mentioned the four-letter word that begins with "S" in our weather forecast for Friday. Oooh, boy.

We are heading out of town on Friday, coincidentally. We have the KWF retreat at Walloon Lake until Sunday. Then we are swinging through Eastport, MI and staying at my aunt and uncle's farm. They say that the weather is actually going to be better Up North than in A2.

I'm just hoping my boots and waterproof jacket make it in time.

Thanks for stopping by.