Today was a great day at work, I thought, as I came to a stop at the light just outside of my subdivision. My customers were happy and my boss was even happier. I’d made a huge sale which meant I’d earned that raise I’d been aiming for. I thought about what I’d do with the money. Trading in my car for something that wasn’t falling apart was first on the list. I started around the corner.
As if on cue Norm backfired. Quicker than a sneeze the kid on the corner jumped for cover behind his girlfriend. I’d normally duck from embarrassment but I could see they weren’t going to pay attention to me. Perhaps stunned by her boyfriend’s cowardly reaction even more than by the the sudden explosion that sounded a little too much like a gun shot, she twisted around and walloped him on the arm. I kind of wanted to stick around and see him try to wheedle his way out of that one but I felt a little guilty knowing my car was the cause so, I drove on. “Norm, you may have just done that girl a favor. ” I patted him on the faded dashboard and started down my street. Ahead, I could see the neighbor kids playing in my yard. Someone may as well use the basketball hoop and painted hopscotch now that my own kids were grown. But as I got closer I could see that they weren’t playing in the driveway as usual. They were on my front lawn. With golf clubs! I did a quick inspection of the front windows.
“Hey, Jaime and Chloe. What’s going on?” I asked.
“We decided to try your golf course instead of the hoop today.” Jaime said.
“My golf course?”
“Yeah. Is that okay?”
My cheeks filled with heat. I looked around to see if all the neighbors were staring out their windows at me and my “golf course”. Norm backfiring was no longer embarrassing. The voles tunneling through my yard had been a nuisance. But my yard being mistaken for a putting green? Humiliating!
“Umm…it’s not a golf course. Those are vole holes.”
“What holes?”
“Vole holes. Voles are little rodents that have been tunneling under our lawn.” I wondered if they’d believe me if I told them that they come out of those holes and nibble on kids toes? I used restraint.
“Is that why there are yellow lines in your lawn?” Chloe asked innocently.
I put my hands on my cheeks to ensure they wouldn’t combust. Norm just dropped to number two on my list.
Feigning composure I said, “Let’s stick with basketball or hopscotch, okay?”
I ran inside and called Barrier Pest Control. Four minutes later I was not only scheduled for an appointment but learned that voles are covered on the Quarterly Pest Program for spiders and bugs that I’m already subscribed to. This appointment wasn’t going to cost me anything extra! Barrier Pest Control is my hero!
Norm moved back to number one. What a great day!
– Photo by Alan Schmierer at Flickr.
– Blog courtesy of Trina of Barrier Pest Control
