Saturday Surprise (‘Allowed To Peek’–2)

In my last Booking-Through-Thursday post, Allowed To Peek, I quoted from Moominland Winter by Tove Jansson. It came to mind for me again today, for a different reason.

In that book, Moomin wakes up in the middle of the winter and can’t go back to sleep (Moomins are usually in hibernation from November to April). With the rest of the family still snoozing away, Moomin feels very lonely. He goes out into the empty kitchen. There he suddenly becomes aware of a pair of eyes staring at him from under the sink…

   

This morning, sitting at the breakfast table,
I suddenly became aware of a glint of blue under the fridge…

I thought it must be a clip for plastic bags that I’d dropped.
So I found some kitchen tool with a long handle
and bent down to poke “it” out…

Imagine my surprise when I found a pair of eyes staring at me!

 

Especially since it was a pair of eyes I had never seen before!

On second thought he reminds me of someone…

He must have been hiding under the fridge ever since I moved in (2 years 8 months ago). Probably longer! (A young family lived here before me.)

What on earth made him suddenly come out now? Have I not been leaving enough cookie crumbs on the floor for him???

Spooky… until I remembered that I made a half-hearted attempt last week to stick the vacuum cleaner under there. Even my extra thin tube didn’t get in properly though, so I gave it up. The suction must have been enough to draw him half way out anyway.

Now I wondered what else might be under there! So I had to figure out how to remove the grid, without actually lying down on the floor. (Not too sure I’d be able to get up again without injuring myself if I did that!) I managed to solve it sitting on a low footstool. Phew. No more “monsters”... ;) Just a bit of dust.

Now the cookie monster is sitting on the freezer.
There might be some cake left in there… or not… 

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PS. Scroll down for today’s weather report.

BTT: Allowed To Peek

 Do you cheat and peek at the ends of books?
(Come on, be honest.)

Not as a rule. Does it ever happen? Of course it does. With novels, it would be if I find myself stuck half way through and doubting whether I’ll find it worth while to struggle on. Then I might have a peek at the end – or some place nearer to the end – to see if that helps to encourage me to read on.

The question makes me think of Moominland Winter by Swedish-speaking Finnish novelist and artist Tove Jansson. Moomins are usually in hibernation from November to April (I always kind of envied them!) but one winter, the young Moomin troll wakes up and just can’t go back to sleep. While his whole family continues to snooze, he sets out to explore the winter. In one place in this book, peeking forward is actually encouraged…

On page 44 (out of 131), something sad occurs. A squirrel dies. Too-ticki (friend of Moomin’s) tries to explain. Since I only have the book in Swedish, the following quotes are my own translation:

‘If you are dead, you are dead,’ said Too-ticki in a kind voice. ‘This squirrel will eventually turn to earth. And later, from that earth, trees will grow, in which new squirrels will be jumping around. Now, is that so sad?’ *

The asterisk leads to a footnote at the bottom of the page:
* If the reader starts crying, take a quick look at page 120. (Author’s note.)

On page 120, in early spring… Moomin again sees a squirrel:

‘Are you called the squirrel with the beautiful tail?’ Moomin asked slowly.
’Of course,’ said the squirrel.
’Is it you!’ exclaimed Moomin. ‘Is it really you? Who met the Ice Woman?’
’I don’t remember,’ said the squirrel. ‘You know, I forget easily…’

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PS. This is my second blog post today.
Scroll down or click the link if you
also want to take a peek and find out who is
“Getting Younger And Younger”.