I brew a lot of loose tea, so I guess you could read my leaves. And I have a few bumps on my head, if you’re phrenologically inclined.

But I think the best way to measure my mood, attitude and personality is to see how I assemble the gerbil cage after cleaning it.

It’s a big job, so I only do it every couple of weeks. The two cages– one came from a yard sale, the other from Goodwill– aren’t completely compatible. Only certain tubes foot in certain holes. The are other rules; the cages lounge up a particular way in order to both connect and stay on that small table. I’ve bought enough tubes over the years to allow for some freedoms to counteract the limitations.

The resulting experiments in rodent habitat engineering can be elegant or chaotic. Here’s one from a few weeks ago:

 

Now here’s Tuesday’s: