I never thought I'd end up smuggling rats

Here I sit on the deck of our third-story room, looking through leafy oaks and sharp-edged pines at the pale waters of Lake Minoqua, watching the morning sun trying to poke through the solid clouds, hoping for it to succeed. A monster rainstrom moved through about 8 p.m, and I thoroughly enjoyed watching the wind whipping the trees as sheets of water flew by -- all while I was beneath a secure roof. I could only wonder what it would be like to be camping out there, or maybe an early settler or Native American. Or on a bike. Cold and wet. Not my cup of tea.

I didn't bring the bike with us, having reserved the rack for Daniel's walker -- and reluctant to spend chunks of family vacation time away from family. But I did put in ten miles on the exercise bike downstairs, enough, I hope, for maintenance purposes. I certainly worked up a sweat, though much of it might have been due to watching the morning news. Of course I followed it with two waffles loaded with syrup, to nullify any possible calorie loss. But I hope fishing and wandering around will burn off some more. If the rain backs off, and we can get the kids away from their TV fix (since we have neither cable nor satellite at home, they are gorging on the stuff).

As for the rat-smuggling: Anna's two adult rats were never apparently never well socialized and have tendency to bite hard. Making them useless as pets -- and impossible to place. But because Anna especially is reluctant to convert them to snake food or have them put down, we've been desperate. My jokes about using them for "Muskie bait" fell on deaf and hostile ears. Enter Rhinelander Rat Rescue, a lady up there who takes in homeless, troubled rats. So via the wonders of the internet we set up an exchange this morning -- we smuggled the rats into this "pet-free" establishment and she is driving down this morning to pick them up. It all has a sort of clandestine feel to it, especially for Anna, who tends to feel guilty at any thing that even smacks of nefarious. In her code, "Aunt Bess" is coming to pick up "the cousins."

So keep all our fingers crossed. And if any law enforcement is monitoring this frequency, please be assured that "the package" is all legal.