Tipp Talk-May 2

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2025

From GregEnslen.com:


Events, activities and other hometown items going on in and around Tipp City, Ohio by Greg Enslen

The Mouse that Saved My Summer

I hate mowing.  I know, it’s not very manly to admit that, but I’ve never liked doing yard work, or mowing, or planting flowers, or mulching, or the hundred billion other projects people do to keep their yards looking trim and proper.  Some men have this gene, but I’ve been tested, and it’s missing.  Anyone who has seen my yard can attest to this.

But fortune smiled upon me this winter, delivering me from one of my most hated chores—mowing the lawn.

You may not know this, but I’m married to a woman, something I thank my lucky stars for every day.  I’ll never forget that happy day when Samantha hit her head on a low-hanging branch and foolishly said “yes” to my marriage proposal—nothing else could possibly explain my good fortune.  And I have to say that, for me, my strong preference was to marry a female, so things worked out.

But being a female, she has a few quirks.  I use the word “quirks” because using a stronger and more descriptive word might very well come back to haunt me.  She eats my ice cream and Zone bars, parks her car in such a way as to take up the whole driveway, hates it when I take her to “Hooters,” and is wary of my unhealthy obsession with bacon.  And, she hates dead animals.

I don’t really have an opinion one way or another about dead animals—they just are.  Sorta like Spain and Red Lobster and knitting—they exist, but have no real bearing on my life.

One day this winter, one of our cats decided to “do us a favor” by killing a mouse and leaving it on our porch.  It was dead—actually, extra dead, because it had been ripped open.  I didn’t care that much; to me, it was just a dead animal.

But Sam cared a lot, to say the least, and my name was called.  Loudly.  She held the children back as I swept in like a good husband, called whenever something gross needs to be done or something heavy needs to be lifted.  I began the mouse cleanup when she announced (in front of several witnesses) that if I got rid of the mouse, she would mow the yard all summer.  I was happy to take her up on her offer—one dead mouse is certainly worth a summer of putting my feet up and sipping mint juleps while she schleps the lawn mower around the yard.

Thank you, cat.  Whichever one of you delivered the mouse carcass to our front porch, I owe you one.

Around Town

  • The always-fabulous “What a Girl Wants” Fashion Show for a Cure will be held at Harrisons on May 5
  • The Tipp Roller Mill Children’s Theater will perform “The Glass Slipper” on May 4 and 5 at 7 pm and May 6 at 2:00pm.
  • The Tipp Community-Wide Garage Sale is coming up on Saturday, May 5 from 9am to 4pm.
  • Ginghamsburg Church will have a truck at Tipp Plaza to accept donations, including any unsold garage sale items. The truck will be available Saturday from 3 to 7 and Sunday from 1 to 4. Tax receipts will be available, and they’ll be accepting gently used furniture, working appliances and miscellaneous items.

Check In With Me

Hear something interesting for “Tipp Talk?”  Visit my website at www.gregenslen.com and drop me a line using the “Contact Me” page, or email me at genslen@yahoo.com.  And don’t worry—I won’t quote you unless you want me to!