June 8, 2024 ~ Saturday (evening/the robins are peeping their goodnights and the animals are restless)
There is a squirrel in my kitchen. Well, not at this moment … we chased him out. But about 45 seconds ago there was a squirrel in my kitchen. That wasn’t the first time. Nor was it the first time … today.
It’s my own fault. What can I say? I love my local rodents (Sciuridae – squirrels – in particular). I will forego the mice and rats … I just like squirrels. There are over 230 species (only 65 in the US) and include (I didn’t know this) chipmunks, flying squirrels, prairie dogs, and marmots! (My dad and I once fed a marmot black licorice when hiking Longs Peak – poor thing was probably dead in an hour!) I pass a prairie dog village on the way to my daughter’s … love seeing them out on their little mounds. So cute! They also have the most complex language (of all animals/other than humans) having over 120 different vocalizations. There are no marmots around here but the squirrels that like to visit us are about the size of my chihuahua, Frankie … but with bushy tails and smaller ears! Cute, cute, cute.
It was a busy day and about an hour ago, I thought I’d stretch out on the couch and grab a 12-minute cat nap (10 minutes = too short/15 minutes = too long) and I was just about dozing off when I heard the tin top of the dog treat canister hit the kitchen floor with a metallic clank. I knew in an instant what was going on. My tree squirrel had come calling for a snack. I admit it, I feed them. I can’t help myself. I buy them peanuts and give them stale crackers and granola bars and at times (yes) I’ve made them peanut butter sandwiches – cut on the diagonal (only kidding) and stuffed in the crook of the tree. Well, squirrels gotta eat, too. Right? Especially in winter.
For a while I contemplated moving to Henderson, NC … home of the White Squirrel. It is not an albino version … it is just white! They have all sorts of festivals and parades and such celebrating that critter. Sounded oh-s0-lovely to me until I found out that the KKK is really big in those parts!
There are black, red, brown, gray, and white squirrels … and roughly over 2 billion squirrels world-wide. I don’t know how they figure that out but I pity the guy who just got the job of being a Squirrel Counter. Modern scientific data collection! Who knows!
Today I helped move my son into his new apartment – here in town. I don’t remember the last time he had a residence in town. Has he? He is a world traveler and for the last two-three years has been off wandering and exploring, writing and blogging, pod casting and researching … a current day Vasco de Gama. (I picked VG cuz I like his name – flows off the tongue nicely – and he was the first explorer (that we know of) to voyage to India via the Cape of Good Hope and was the first to link Europe and Asia by an ocean route, connecting the Atlantic and the Indian oceans.) While Ted has not done that – he has been and has worked in India – and, indirectly, thanks to good ol’ Vasco.
In any case, Ted is back in town for a bit and we moved him in today. And the physical deed of either of us moving anything today should have been highly unlikely. Ted had a corneal transplant surgery three weeks ago … and I had throat surgery five days ago. So … smart? Um, probably not. But, we did it nevertheless.
And, due to my surgery, I am not allowed to talk … for a good long time. Like all summer. So it has begun … the Summer of Silence. And, due to said silence, today was exhausting. It’s hard enough NOT to talk … but add in hand gestures, mouthing words (badly), and some written notes and you have a very crude way of communicating. I like talking. This is going to be a long haul.
I had to laugh at times (not supposed to) because my actions/gestures reminded me of my daughter, Sam, when she was a toddler. Walking but not really talking yet, she’d use hand gestures signaling what she wanted. Her most memorable one was while standing in the kitchen, she’d pound her chest (ala a gorilla) and then point to the freezer … meaning she wanted an Otter Pop (those frozen, fruity ice sticks). Hilarious and well, she made her point. And hey, it was a hot summer and yeah, my kids got ice pops at 8:30 am! They survived quite nicely! Anyway – I felt like I was doing gestures that would easily convey my wordlessness – but I probably looked like a gorilla or chimpanzee in my movements!
And while it wasn’t exactly toasty out – I was still a slobberpuss of sweat while moving things into his building. And, my apologies honey, I looked like I’d been dipped in a pond before being electrocuted. I was wet and my hair resembled Einstein’s. Lovely. “Hi, I just moved in – this gross creature is my mom. She is mute and exceedingly sweaty and I don’t know what is going on with her hair.” I hope his neighbors forget about me and talk to him in the future.
There are a lot of sirens tonight. I notice them because the doors are open (hence squirrels coming in for snacks) and Mac, my lab, lets loose with a deep, mournful howl when they go down the next road over (where the Fire Station is). I jump out of my skin every time he does that!
In any case – that squirrel (or ???) was just back in the house. Since I am mute, I let Mac chase whatever it was out, barking all the way around the yard, stopping at my side fence. I can’t yell or talk to it so … good dog. But now there is something out in my neighbor’s yard making a very creepy scritching noise. Not that I want a squirrel in my house … I just hope it was one and not a … raccoon!
So starts summer!