Playful Mice in Wichita Kansas

November 12, 2023|Rick Juliusson

"True character is what you do when no-one's watching," they say. They also say, "When the cat's away, they mice will play." So what does an unwatched Ricky play when his wife runs away to a Florida work retreat and leaves him in glorious Wichita Kansas?

1. Overload on Community Events

Day of the Dead celebration and pollo asado meal on a park bench. One-night-only opera performance of La Boheme, evoking delicious tears at least twice. "Keeper of the Plains" statue on the river, with another visitor loudly playing a violent murder audio-book. Hot yoga daily. First Friday monthly art crawl. University production of "A Chorus Line" where the rich variety of dancing abilities, body shapes and ethnicities matched the actual theme of the show much better than the traditional Broadway cast pretending to be diverse. I also enjoyed the campus' native art statues at sunset, and the typical statue of some important white guy accompanied by a plaque directly challenging the prominence of white men statues and what that says about our society. Go Wichita State!

2. Overload on Netflix

While my evenings were super-active and interactive, daytimes I wasted and wallowed. Uninspired food choices (culminating in an all-you-can-eat-and-don't-question Chinese buffet). Too much catching up on Shameless and Breaking Bad and even the Brady Bunch pilot episode. Trudging through piled-up business boulders like banking, taxes, new PO Box, etc etc. A few too many naps. This was my first time alone since this journey began and I let myself be tired and aimless. Really, let myself live my worst fear of what retirement could feel like if I let it. Chose that even knowing that I didn't want it, wouldn't like it, would regret the wasted chance to really live into that freedom and blossom. Spring will just have to wait, I told my tired soul, for now I choose to not enjoy some fallow time.

3. Pick up Poop

This was the first house-sitting gig where I felt resentful about my responsibilities. Three dogs and four cats, with a schedule that had walk/feed/clean duties every 3 hours, made it hard to feel free to enjoy Wichita. Dogs that pooped indoors no matter how often I took them out, who have to sleep in my room and whine to get up at 5am, who endlessly chased each other on walks so I was endlessly untangling leashes, who chewed through my mouse cord, phone charging cord and one leash. Owners who monitored the house remotely, texting me one evening to say I needed to lower the blinds so neighbours couldn't see into their house. A fridge and pantry so meticulously organized it felt counted, so for the first time I did not feel invited to once in a while enjoy food offerings. It was a gorgeous house (with an amazing high-end massage chair!), but rather than feel like a welcome guest who was helping taking care of their precious animals as an equal exchange for the opportunity to enjoy Wichita, I felt like an underpaid employee trapped in someone else's world and afraid of leaving footprints on the carpet.

So, lessons learned in Wichita?

Fun cultural events can be found anywhere, even in Kansas. So can beautiful parks and public art installations. Wichitonians are as proud of their world as anywhere else. Home and community and meaningful life can be created anywhere.
An ultra-modern house in a high-end gated community (with a welcome/warning sign like above) are not my jam.
My propensity to wallow when given too much space does not need to be indulged - I already understand that dark side of me, don't need the Down to fully live the Up. Likewise, I don't need to periodically eat at a Chinese buffet or KFC just to remind myself that they don't make me feel good.
These TrustedHousesitters.com gigs are an exchange, and like any relationship, require clear mutual understanding of expectations and value added/received by each party to be successful. These home-owners did absolutely nothing wrong; it was me who should have more completely and open-eyedly assessed the opportunity and realized that my needs and desire to live a dream week in Wichita didn't align with their reality and expectations.