ROUS

When Josh first convinced me to watch Princess Bride (a couple of decades ago now!) I was not so sure.  After all he had also convinced me to watch Army of Darkness not too long before he suggested it.  It probably goes without saying that I love one of those films.  I just didn't know how much it would play out in my own life.

While I am not married to a former pirate and I am certainly not a princess sought after by ill-intended suitors I have now watched my dear love fight off a rodent of unusual size (ROUS for you PB newbies...stop reading this and go watch the film immediately).

At 4 am we heard a terrible racket coming from the backyard and sadly it involved yowls and chicken squawking.  Having recently lost one of our girls to the heat, I was resigned to the inevitable knowledge that now we would lose one to a raccoon.  Defeated, I told Josh- as he jumped up to throw on some outdoor suitable clothing- that there was nothing we could do.   I covered my ears and tried to slide as far under the summer weight blankets as I could.  BUT! No, that man didn't stop, because if there is one thing my amazing partner will not accept it's defeat.

I, in my infinite not brave princesshood, called out through the window to see if he needed anything and his only last request was a pair of shoes, as his flip flops were not possum fighting shoes.  As I raced to his rescue with a pair of running shoes (cause that's what I would want when going head to head with a chicken killing ROUS) he proudly announced that both our chickens were still alive and he had trapped the offending rodent into their hen house.  He stood there with an axe and his flip flops and I am pretty certain in the background I heard swelling music and a subtle aura emanated in the air around him.

Every great possum fighter needs a partner in crime. I have mentioned before just how much we love our neighbors, so of course who shows up with his own super hero music playing in the background, but Zero! With much better shoes might I add.  (Apparently his princess knows something about footwear in ROUS fighting...)

There at 4:15 stood two men and their axe, shovel and yard rake with a possum trapped in the hen house and the hens free ranging the yard a bit confused and certainly not interested in me checking them out.  I must look more like a possum than a princess.  (One girl lost a lot of wing and tail feathers, but it is obvious with the help of her swarthy pirate in shining flip flops she will be fine).

And now here I sit blogging while the two amazing chicken fighters debate over what is best.  Because as the superhero Zero said, sometimes even pirates and superheros aren't equipped to take on a pissed off possum who didn't get his dinner.  Okay, he didn't say it exactly like that, but I imagine he would've if he'd been on stage tonight and not in a dark backyard helping out his neighbors.