October 10 – “Pitter-patter”

We were just relaxing, lounging around the house watching some TV and getting ready for some supper.  That’s when we heard it.  Unmistakable.  The pitter-patter of little feet.  We looked into each other’s eyes.  No, not with the knowing joy of doting grandparents.  This pitter-patter was coming from above our heads.  So for just a second our thoughts might have been closer to the abject terror of a B-rated horror movie.  You know, the kind where deep down you know you know pretty much what the sound is, but the circumstance are so out of sync that the exact source escapes you for a fleeting moment and reality is replaced by a flood of possibilities.  Ghosts?  Nah.  Intruders?  Possible, but they would have to be pretty … well, short.  So, nah.  Critters?  Now were getting back to thinking correctly.  See we often have little critters race across our roof.  Usually squirrels.  Sometimes renegade cats.  Perhaps more often than we care to consider, probably rats and possums as well.  And then our eyes met once again, this time with realization.  The answer to the mysterious sound from the roof was … Fred.

We raced out the back door and up the stairs to the deck.  Well, “raced” might be a bit ambitious.  Perhaps “hurried as best we could” would be more accurate.  And sure enough, from well over onto the front side of the roof facing the street, came the youngster Fred.  The tell-tale pitter-patter of her feet as she approached confirmed our suspicions.  She came right over to us, anxious for our approval and for a pat on her tiny little head.  So what were our options now for keeping her off the roof and protected from a possible fall to her doom? 

We finally came up with an idea.  We found a roll of some plastic chicken wire in the garage.  No idea where it came from or why it has lasted in our garages, but it seemed the perfect fix.  We strung it up and tied it in place with those plastic ties (we also had a big jar of those.  They came with some other supplies after Hurricane Ike – a very helpful tool over the years, by the way, if anyone ever asks you what they can give after a disaster.  I think it will be enough to keep Fred confined to the deck.  And it’s eco-friendly for the neighborhood interlopers.  Cats and squirrels should be agile enough to leap it.  Possums and rats can easily climb over it.  Adventurous children?  Hmm.  Not so much …

Hebrews 9:15 says, “For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance — now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.”

Father, watch over the Scoggins’ family today as they walk through the funeral.  Amen.