Mickey and the early Spring

Mickey awoke recently to hear that his good friend Meggy the dog was scratching on his front door to his above and below ground bungalow in the Opa Jim's garden.  He sleepily stretched and got out of bed putting on his bathrobe going to the door, opening it and said, " What is so important that you are waking me out of a blissful, sound sleep?" " Meggy replied, " Hey you sleepy head look at the trees and shrubs in the garden!" Mickey rubbed his eyes and stepped out into the garden for a look-see. His eyes opened wide and then he blinked and rubbed them again. He said, " There are blossoms all over the place and it is only the beginning of April! What is going on?"  Meggy then said with a bark, " Can't you feel the temperature?" Mickey nodded and replied, " It has been the warmest winter in the history of this part of Germany and that is why everything is blooming so early.  We must wait and see what happens when the " 'Ice Saints' come in May with their icy breaths" Mickey was referring to the Saints in folklore in Germany and many other countries in Europe  Ice Saints . At any rate, Mickey began thinking about the many changes the climate change was starting to make in Germany and throughout the entire world.  Mosquitos carrying Malaria and other diseases were starting to move up from the south into central and northern Europe prompting officials to begin efforts to control the pests. Mickey also remembered the neighbor Mister Teapot-Head, a most unpleasant weasel, who did not believe in the climate change and laughed at those who did calling them conspiracy believers. He had his come-uppance last Fall when he developed the shakes and had to go to the hospital.  A tick from the southern areas of Europe wandering north with the changing temperature had bitten him and caused a case of "lime disease". This meant he had to get treatment and finally acknowledge that things were a changing.  Mr. Teapot-Head unfortunately was and is a member of a large group of "head in the sand " individuals that believe that all events are caused by a conspiracy led by a small group of mad scientists who control the world.  Mickey gave Opa Jim a call on his cell phone after contemplating on the above mentioned situation and told him he could plant salad in the greenhouse located in back of Mickey's bungalow.  Opa Jim went to his local garden store called "Loewenzahn" (Dandlion) ) and bought several varieties of leaf salad as he remembered the head lettuce variety takes a while to grow and sometimes goes to seed before it can be harvested.  He likes to be able to harvest salad as early as May and into the early summer before it gets to hot. Opa Jim came to the garden bringing water to sprinkle on the new lettuce plants as well as throw some "Schneckenkörner" (Snail corns) to keep the slugs away from the delicate succulents.  They all had a cup of tea together and Opa Jim and Meggy went off to teach ( Opa Jim teaches music and Meggy lies under the piano listening as well as being an official greeter for the students.) Mickey settled back and got out his book of poems and stories written by the famous local poet.   Jean Paul   

An earlier Mickey Mole story 2009

We left off in this story telling about Mickey´s cold storage room located off the kitchen.  Mickey finished his breakfast and put the dishes into the sink where he would later wash them.  He wanted to get into the city as soon as possible as he had some money to deposit in the local bank run by Gerhardt Eule or in English, "Jerry Owl" who was also very wise and Mickey trusted him.  He got into his special car and coasted happily in the direction of the center of the city.  He coasted right into a parking space next to the bank and hopped out with his wallet in hand proceeding to the front of the bank. He suddenly noticed 2 big fat cats smoking black stinky cigars which are not like the excellent cigars that Uncle Nate occasionally smokes.  They also noticed Mickey and moved ominously in his direction.  Mickey casually slipped his paw into his pocket and fingered his laser stun gun lightly prepared to draw it at a moments notice.  The two stopped then before reaching him but one on either side of Mickey so as to block him if he tried to move away.  Mickey had no fear as he knew that although they were physically stronger and bigger than he, they were no match for his brains and cunning.   He stood looking at them with a slight smile and said " Well my buckos what brings you here to this fair city?" The bigger and uglier of the two rascals said, "Good morning my little friend. We have a proposition for you as we see you are about to deposit your money in the bank. We could not help but see your fat wallet stuffed with Euros. ( Mickey and Opa Jim use Euros for money here in Europe and not dollars like people in America use) We have a tip for you today."  Mickey replied, " and what may I ask is your tip?" 

The fat cat replied," It would be better for you to invest it in our super duper hedge fund where we can leverage it against bad mortgages and you will be rich before the market fails wiping out all the other investors."  

Mickey was aware of what was happening to the finances in America and Europe which were causing all sorts of problems throughout the world including in the parallel animal world.  He also knew that saving your money in a trusted bank backed up by the government was the best way to protect these savings.  If one had some extra money to put into stocks and bonds and could afford to lose it, then they could invest it in the stock market and wait for a dividend if everything worked out.  The fat cat types were all over the world and ruining many peoples retirement nest eggs causing them to continue to work into old age with no chance of retiring like Otata.  Mickey´s brain went into overdrive and pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket.  He looked wisely at the fat cats and said in a trusting voice, " I have even a better deal for you!" 

"What do you have, little guy?" said Mr. Ugly Fat Cat.  

"This here is the patent for my new invention, this auto that you see here", he said. " If you will give me 10,000 animal euros, I will sign away this patent and you will be rich over night". 

The smaller and weasely looking fat cat said without hesitation " We will take it if Herr Eule from the bank will notarize  your signature".  He was aware of Mickey´s inventions having been alerted by the auto manufacturers who needed new cars that saved energy and did not pollute the environment.  He also knew that the big car lobby and the gasoline companies did not want such a car and would pay big bucks to stop this invention.  If they purchased the patent rights then they could get some lawmaker to have it buried under paperwork at the patent office thus effectively getting rid of it hopefully till the next century.  The fat cats and Mickey went to the notary public who was Herr Eule and also the bank president. The papers were signed, the monies paid and the fat cats quickly went away in an great big oil guzzling Hummer.  Mickey smiled to himself and put the money into his savings account which paid him honest interest and would not be destroyed by the evil hedge fund operators. 

The fat cats did not know that Mickey had no patent on his invention and all the fat cats had was a piece of worthless paper.  He planned to draw up some plans at a later date and have his invention  really patented.  

In our next adventure we will hear about Mickey and the Easter Bunny if the cook doesn´t burn the breakfast waffles..

Mickey and the fireworks

Mickey and the fireworks.  

Mickey paused for a moment coming out of his bungalow in the garden and reflected about the past year.  He knew that it was the 31st of December and the next day would bring the new year 2013.  He had been in Germany quite a long time, almost as long as Opa Jim and remembered the garden in Mapletree where he had grown up.  He would sit on a corner of the garden on one of the corner stones and smoke his pipe which glowed red in the dark so that the two boys in the house could see it from their bedroom window.  There had been some exciting times there as he out foxed  the bad white cat and the two bad animals from the woods whose names he had forgot but who loved souse from the ears. ..Such a long time.  As he continued to reflect, suddenly Meggy the dog bounded into the garden stopping to eat a shrunken  plum that Opa Jim had not seen as he collected the fruit in the garden to make his famous jellies and jams known for their exquisite taste throughout the region called Franken.  Meggy came up to Mickey licking her dog chops and giving a bark said to Mickey in German "Gruess Gott!" Mickey replied the same as he now was quite fluent in German.  Meggy then said, "let's get going for a walk" and Mickey hopped on her back and off they were over the fields and meadows looking for the last adventure of the year.  They didn't have far to go for suddenly there was a loud explosion in front of them.  As you know in Germany, New Years Eve or "Sylvester Abend" is time for fireworks and it is like the 4th of July in the USA.  They saw a teenaged boy who seemed to be having a problem with blood running down his face.  Another boy was running away from the scene.  Mickey correctly assessed the situation realizing that the boy had lit a rocket which pre-exploded before he could step back and that the rocket or "Boller" in German had been made in the Czech Republic by the Czech Mafia in some illegal factory using unregulated materials that were not meant to be used safely in fireworks.  Meggy barked and the boy looked through his hands that he was holding over his face to staunch the bleeding.  He couldn't help noticing the small creature on the back of the dog which of course was our Mickey. Without a further pause Meggy wheeled around and raced with Mickey holding on for dear life to Opa Jim's.  Opa Jim was cleaning the back of his auto which was full of dog hairs on the carpeting prompting Opa Jim to exclaim that the next auto of his which he would buy in June of 2013 would have only rubber floors and no carpet. He looked up as Meggy thundered in and Mickey told him what had happened. Opa Jim knew where the area the boy had injured himself and quickly alerted the police and Red Cross known as "Rote Kreuz" here.  He then jumped in the car with the two friends and drove to the site where the boy was arriving the same time as the ambulance.  He helped the boy into the ambulance and gathered up the Czech Mafia rockets to give to the police for evidence.  Then he drove back to apartment with Meggy and Mickey where they had a cup of tea (Meggy some dog treats)  again reflecting on the past year.  

chapter one

Today was not too cold and I took a walk around Gut Geigen or Homestead Violin to be exact. I arrived at the schreber garden(1) near the big house which is Gut Geigen and there to my right is a pond that is in the meadow. I saw a large hawk circling around and a small figure standing by the pond. The hawk seemed a bit confused because there was a swirl of smoke coming from the figure which was the size of a rather large mouse. I decided to wander over and check things out when suddenly the hawk dived at the figure. The hawk got near its prey when it veered quickly away going off in another direction and in search of another meal that was not to be had at this location. I could not believe my eyes but here was my old friend, Mickey Mole, calmly smoking his pipe and not the least upset over the aborted attack from the hawk. " No problem", said he and calmly folding an antennae like pointed metal stick that had telescoped into a long lance like spear.

He looked at me with a smile and said "Well my old friend, I am glad to see you again".


I was so amazed that Mickey was in Germany I wasn't able to speak for a moment. How did you get here and so close to where I am living. Mickey laughed and said, "even us moles can look at a computer and get on the internet". He was right as there was always an animal underground society parallelling the human one that was invisible to us. He said, " After you left Mapletown, I was missing our daily conversations and the white cat was no longer there to make my life interesting so I air mailed myself here to your address taking care to cut open the box when it was in the Hof post office. That began the problem of finding your Street as I did not have a map. I rode out here to Geigen Gut with the lady and her dog thinking that it must be the in the right direction. She did not notice me slipping into her shopping bag at the post office and voila here I am. I found a convenient den in the ground left by one of my German cousins and I have set up house keeping here near the pond."

Mickey had fashioned a telescoping weapon to protect himself against his enemies by breaking off a radio antennae from and old auto stored in the barn at Gut Geigen. He sharpened the point of the antennae in his workshop and when a hawk came diving at him he stuck one end in the ground and holding the rod pointing skyward was able to mount a formidable defense against attackers from the air. The hawks would be impaled on the weapon if they tried to get close to Mickey. His weapon could be folded up neatly and carried in his coat pocket..Yes he had a coat as he is civilized and can't run around in only his fur in the winter.

of course his burrow was much bigger than a German mole but he had simply made it bigger and was able to borrow wood and other materials from the schreber garden bordering on the pond. there is no one there in winter and Mickey was able to get into one of the houses to borrow tools in order to fashion his furniture which you know is quite unique in the animal world. If you could get into his burrow, you would see that it is just like a human´s house complete with kitchen, bedroom, living room, bath, workroom and study as Mickey is very well read. He has a library of books in the study, now of course in German as it is difficult to find English books here. His workroom has a workbench and tools which he fashions his furniture. He even has a stove to heat the burrow as he is very civilized and when you are civilized you get cold and can't just curl up in some brush or leaves in the burrow to keep warm. He burns the driest of wood so that you would not notice smoke coming out of the ground. He doesn't need much to heat everything as the burrow is very efficient with mud insulation.

At that point it was getting late and I had to get back to my apartment to make dinner including cookies as Gudrun is crazy about desserts. We agreed to meet soon and he promised to tell me about a new bad black cat who was stalking him similar to the white cat in Mapletown. Since Mickey now speaks German we both said "Tschuss" and went our separate ways.. The next chapter we will learn about the black cat if the soap rack in my shower doesn't fall down for the 99th time because the suction cups are no good!!

Footnote (1) A schreber garden is a plot of land just like the one of I have on Schellenberger hill with a small house and garden. see http://picasaweb.google.com/jjclark3/PuttingUpARoofOnTheGardenHouseSummer2007