It's Amazing Waking up Here

I awoke yesterday moning to pock, pock, pock. I got up to see what the cats were doing that made suh an unusual racket at 6:30 in the morning. I searched from one end to the other, but Patches was laying on her favourite chair that she allows me to use at mealtime and Missy was outside. The noise had stopped so I sat down for the morning coffee.

I awoke to the same sound this morning and after looking around sat down in the usual chair to let the coffee work. The view out of our living room is like a park with 30 foot high fir trees everywhere. As I sat sqirrels saw jumping from tree to tree. Two were chasing up and down this tree with one right on the other's tail. They run head first down the tree and then around the tree and back up and repeat the same trick over and over. I don't think they noticed the cat waiting at the bottom of the tree, but he came away without the prize he was hoping to capture. As I sat one squirrel went way up a tall tree and began dropping down pine cones and the mystery of the early morning sound was solved. The ground is covered with cones for it is harvest time for squirrels. They'll gather up the cones and store them away for winter while we store away peas, beans, beets, carrots and potatoes.

Maybe some day the grandchildren will stop watching Treehouse long enough to watch the squirrels in the trees.

Indeed, whatever else might be said about him, I thought David Suzuki made a good point when he said something along the lines of 'If you want your kids to be interested in science, don't get them a computer, get them outdoors!'.

That would make a great little video. Are they the little red squirrels?

We have the squirrels going bonkers here too. Early each morning, around 4, they start yelling at each other from high up in the trees as they hurl, with great force, heavy pine cones onto the metal roofs of all the buildings here. It sounds like gun shots. After about a week of this I begin to fantasize about shooting squirrels. About pasting one of the cheerful, shrieking little tree rats right in the side of the head with a heavy, pitch sticky pine cone that I have catapulted from a sling shot. Splat...there! Take that you messy, noisy lunatic!

They have to go out of their way to drop a pine cone on a tin roof and yet, they manage to. Every single time. They do it on purpose. They PLAN this stuff!

Rosewood, glad you can see the beauty in this. When I stand, wide awake and mad and stare out the window at 4 in the morning contemplating squirrel murder, there is very little beauty involved in that picture!

It's the cats here that decide 4 in the morning is time to go for a pre-breakfast jog. They have taken to plucking at our sliding door screen to get in or out. When the parents of our gkids are working their cats move back here too. That makes 5 to go in and out. The squirrels possibly can't drop much on our metal roof as the trees are too far from the house.

Thank you Uno, had my chuckle for the day

These little peeks into the lives of others makes me smile. I picture you with your cup of java, Rosewood, waiting for the energy spike, watching these little boogers, how cool. Thanks for that little sit by your side as I watched these little pretties up and down the tree. I love to hear little stories of the nature that others experience, tales of things that have passed. Have a beautiful day, CynthiaM.