Squirrel World

Browne's Addition is a total squirrel neighborhood. We used to have a particularly crotchety squirrel living in the roof of our front porch. From time to time, the squirrel would emerge in the presence of a human tenant and either proceed to unleash a volley of angry squirrel words or attempt to ward the person off with a series of violent tail twitches. And yes, there has been an instance or two of this squirrel taking off after one the human tenants, but the only thing that accomplished was the entrance to the squirrel's roof-top home getting sealed shut. For the most part, Browne's Addition squirrels are friendly.

My neighbor, John, has formed a bond with a plucky little squirrel (who has taken, over the past year, to hiding all manner of nuts inside my flowerpots). John leaves peanuts on his porch and the squirrel arrives on schedule to take them away--sometimes eating them on the spot, sometimes burying them in the flowerbeds (or the aforementioned pots). The squirrel, which for lack of a more creative name I call Squirrely, has also taken to scratching at John's door and continuing its visit inside the apartment. Squirrely has apparently decided that I'm a friend too, because it often visits my porch to check for nuts and even climbed up my leg once while I was planting some geraniums. Bold, but I suppose I encourage this sort of behavior by feeding him.

After the feeding session, I had to head off to work. Squirrely sat there until I started backing down the driveway, and then he leaped back up the steps and watched me until I made it onto the street. And then he took that peanut and buried it in one of my flowerpots. Dang it, Squirrely!

P.S. When I was little, I had an imaginery friend: Squirrel. A bit later, Squirrel formed a band, The Originals. And later still, I assume, Monika became interesting, and Squirrel & The Originals went on their merry way.