The "Tail" of Lemon

Lemon is a bright yellow crocheted mouse who has been traveling across Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana with me. He is in the midst of a custody battle between me and my friend Loretta who lives in Kentucky.

But maybe I should start from the beginning. . .

Two years ago Loretta came to Pennsylvania for a visit. When we pulled open the sofa bed for her first night's stay at our home, to our dismay there was a dead mouse which had been decomposing under the sofa. Most likely one of our cats had caught and injured it seriously enough so that it crawled under the sofa and died. Loretta hates mice, so all that night she had nightmares; she also swore that she could smell the decay regardless of my efforts to disinfect and deodorize the area.

When I flew to Kentucky to visit Loretta later that year, this little yellow mouse was hiding in my bed! When I arrived home, I found the mouse tucked away in a deep corner of my suitcase. Ever since then, Lemon has been traveling back and forth between Pennsylvania and Kentucky -- sometimes by car, sometimes by plane, sometimes by UPS, and sometimes by good old fashioned US Mail. He spends part of his time with Loretta, and part of his time with me, although recently he has been living in Pennsylvania more than Kentucky.

In June he arrived back in Pennsylvania after spending several months in Kentucky. He came by car when Loretta drove up for a visit. The morning she was to leave for home, I secretly tucked Lemon into one of her bags. Two days later, Lemon surfaced in my pocketbook where he had been hiding since Loretta's departure.

Because he was quite indignant about being left behind, I managed to placate him by promising to bring him along on my trip west. He flew Northwest Airlines in the safe confines of my riding helmet with his buddy Pumpkin Two, a little orange stuffed cat who lives with me full time. Since arriving in Jackson Hole, Lemon has gone driftboat fishing, trail riding, and in the Targhee Resort chair lift 10,000 feet to the summit of Fred's Mountain. He has toured Yellowstone and traveled into Montana in the confines of my Vera Bradley backpack. The hotel managements have allowed Lemon to stay regardless of their "no pets" policy.

Tomorrow Lemon and Pumpkin Two head to Somers, Montana to meet my old friend Katy and her husband Terry.

So continue the adventures of Lemon. . . . . .

I think he may be inspiration for a children's book!