Nightmare for a Germaphobe Like Me

What I discovered when we decluttered our shed

Due to my husband’s recent retirement, we now have time to start decluttering. We began with a haul to the dump today, after cleaning out the old metal backyard shed.

My better half pulled all of the heavy stuff out of there, went on his dump run, and I went to work on the massive amounts of debris that had collected in the corners and well, just EVERYWHERE on the floor.

It’s a small shed and we had wood stacked inside, among other old dilapidated items. His John Deere tractor barely fits, and when he pulls it in and out stuff just flies around (you get the picture)

At least that’s what I THOUGHT was causing all of the debris. Turns out, when he first got the tractor, upon parking it the first few times, he must have bumped the back wall, or whatever was being stored in front of it, and it bowed that back wall open a bit.

Knowing there would at the very least be mice droppings to deal with, I drug our big trash container, a rake, a broom, and plastic bags out to the shed. I masked up and leather gloved up. Boy was I right! Or, I wish I was right- it wasn’t mouse droppings, but opossum droppings. Gross!

Funny thing is, even after that discovery on the floor, I was still looking up just in case any gigantic, poisonous spider might descend from above and go for my jugular!

I got it all raked out, swept out, and even blocked the hole the varmints were coming through. Then, being a hardcore germaphobe, I threw away the broom and the dustpan, and even contemplated long and hard about pitching the shoes I wore out there 🤣 Better safe than sorry, right? (And yes, I KNOW it was opossum droppings because I did what anyone would do- I googled ‘backyard wildlife poop’)

Now I’m no fortune teller, but I do foresee a serious case of the ‘Heebie Jeebies’ for the next several days!