It’s not that I miss the rats and the guinea pig, exactly, but I keep forgetting they’re not here any more. Tammy and D.J. came by this afternoon to pack them up and take them home, and the place seems a little quieter all of a sudden. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t want them back, at least not for more than a few days at a time. But I keep expecting something to squeak and wiggle when I walk by.

I don’t think I’m a pet person. I’ve been living alone too long, I suppose, to share my space with another critter. I have the lizards and turkeys that are in my yard every day, and the wild songbirds that drift in and out according to the season, and an occasional deer. That’s probably as close as I want to get to having a pet.

But I was happy to be chosen to care for someone else’s critters for a few days, and I was just as happy to return them to their loving homes. I know Aiden missed Biffle, and all three of the rodents probably missed the attention they get in a house full of children. Or maybe to them it was like going home after vacation, and they’ll need some time to adjust. Either way, they’re better off. And I suppose I am, too.

I didn’t mind feeding them, or changing their water. In fact, it was kind of fun to see Biffle get so excited when I put his daily bowl of produce in the cage. And they weren’t here long enough that I had to clean their cages. All I really had to do was vacuum up the mess they made on the floor. They do like to strew their bedding just about as far as they can get it. So I get a bonus out of the deal: a cleaner carpet.