the country and the city mouse...the beginnings, at least

NOT JUST A ROUGH DRAFT, REALLY MORE OF A THOUGHT PROCESS GOING ON HERE:

country mouse and city mouse were very close in age. they both had a profound impact on me as i grew up, but in some ways greater now that i held my distance from them.

city mouse was always in my life, from the time i was born. she was fashionable and a social butterfly. she was fun to be around, but definitely not a matronly kind of mouse.

country mouse came into my life when i was 3, so she wasn't "original". she wore whatever was comfortable, after all, she lived in the country, why not? but she, too, was a social butterfly, i just never realized it.

i regarded country mouse with a certain amount of distaste in my mouth. i don't know why, perhaps my own snobbery, but it was there. like a film left on your teeth after you've eaten something sweet. it's there until you wash it away and forget about it until your sweet-tooth strikes again.country mouse was nice, definitely. matronly? sure. but she was "uncivilized". she belched loudly (never a drop of alcohol did i see her take). she said phrases like, "Well, I'll be.." she knew everyone in the bingo hall. and she wore socks with her flip flops. she lived in a dilapidated old house (that used to be a church) on some land outside a ridiculously small town in Texas. there was a pasture, a barn, pigs, chickens, dogs, cats...and a tractor.

city mouse was my favorite mouse to visit. she would fly me out to see her and i would brag about it to everyone i knew, because i got to fly alone. i was so cool. i always looked at city mouse with a certain amount of awe. oh,to be as cool as she when i "grew up". city mouse drank gin and tonic with a twist of lime. she said "Darlin" but with her southern accent it sounded more like, "dahhhhhlin". she knew all the "important people" and had pictures with them or notes from them to prove it. and she wore lots of gold or silver jewelry (never mix the two). she lived in a chic apartment on the outskirts of the city, but not quite the suburbs. there was a pool, tennis courts, palm trees, parties, friends...and antique furniture.

TO BE CONTINUED...