Argentina: 2020 is not over yet

Have you ever been raking fallen leaves and flower petals in your yard when you notice your cat has jumped into your tomato plants so you go over there to shoo her out only to find that you interrupted her attempt to catch the mouse that had, by now, scurried its way to the top of the tomato plant and situated itself in the upper right hand corner of the kitchen window?

Have you ever been sitting at your desk when you hear a loud thud against the window behind you, in front of which your cat is perched on her cat tower in prime birdwatching position, then get up to scope out the situation only to find that it was not, in fact, a bird, but rather a giant locust that had flown into the window and was now driving the kitty cat crazy? Picture the tail wag. You know that tail wag.

Have you ever gone out to water the plants in the day's final hour of sunlight only to find that in the span of an afternoon an entire colony of ants has invaded one of your pepper plants and feasted on its leaves and flowers and consequently destroyed it completely? 

These are all things that have happened here since Tuesday of this week.

This is what happens when the kitty gets excited and tries to jump from her tower to catch whatever flies into the window. Timberrr!!

Up until this week, my biggest battle was getting the dogs to stop picking tomatoes off the plants prematurely and leaving them thrown about the yard. 

The mice, I thought, had come and gone. There was the morning of my birthday when I found an enormous dead rat in the middle of the yard surrounded by two dogs and a cat, proud of the gift they left me as if they knew it was my birthday. We strategically placed mint plants between our other plants after that in an effort to keep other mice away. The walls of the neighbor's yard are covered in overgrown vines, which are great for mice to make nests in, but they surprisingly and thankfully gave them a much-needed trimming a few weeks ago. We thought the mice had gone...

So there I was on Tuesday afternoon, recovering after an exciting morning complete with spotting one mouse in our tomato plants AND ITS BROTHER jump out of the neighbor's grapevine that has overgrown into our yard. I was preparing supper with my trusty assistant (a.k.a. Bianca the cat) in her usual spot perched in the window, when I noticed a sudden movement coming from the same grapevine. I grabbed the kitty, raced to the door, and tossed her into the yard where she instantly knew her mission. The neighbor's cat had also made his way to his favorite spot on our roof at this time, but he wasn't keen on joining in on the fun and uttered a pathetic "meow" before continuing on his merry way. Bianca trapped the little rodent between the base of the mandarin tree and a shovel by the time Emi got home from work a few minutes later, and he was able to help her finish him off. In a similar team effort, the second one was caught yesterday afternoon. The neighbor's cat was once again in the same roof lookout position. Perhaps he will join in on the fun if, God forbid, there is another mouse escapade.

View from inside the kitchen: sprawling tomato plant with the mouse hanging out in the corner. Bianca waited at the base of the plant, and as she made her calculations and failed attempts to catch it, it crawled its way up and down the exterior wall.

I planted a garden this year to counter everything negative that has happened, and it feels like 2020 has wholeheartedly assumed its role as the villain who descends with its evil laugh while coming to shout loud and clear: It's not over yet and we are going out with a bang.