Peonies & Friends III

Jessica Berry

Earthenware clay, wheel thrown, hand built embellishments.

Monologue: One year, the rats developed a taste for Spaghetti Squash. The vines grow up a trellis that extends to our front deck, where the plump vegetables can ripen in the sun, out of the dirt. The large rat had started by gnawing a hole in the top of the squash, then proceeded to eat it from the inside out. I have a photo of him sitting inside the squash, likely too drowsy and full to move from his cool perch. I read somewhere, years ago, that if you have rats, and they are not getting into your house, or causing a general nuisance, or looking sickly or unwell, then you are best to leave them. Removing them creates a vacancy for less desirable rats to move in and bring their diseases and poor house manners with them. Our neighbours have chickens, so I don’t think we could do anything about the rats anyways. Between the chickens, the compost bins and the Thai restaurant down the street, the energy spent to remove them would be wasted. I have decided not to plant the vegetable garden this year though.