Marian is going to be soooooo jealous.... <img src="/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />
I was sitting here, typing a letter to a friend when, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Mia making some strange movements across the hall, in my bedroom. I glanced over and couldn't believe what I saw. Let me set the scene for you.
My bedroom window is tall and set low, reaching almost to the floor. I keep the shutters open during the day so Mia and Lexi can sit on the 2 padded footstools I have by the window and look out onto the backyard, the large golden maple tree, the fences, the patio, my garden and of course, the squirrels. As you all know by now, the brick ledge outside my window has often been a resting place and a refuge from the winter elements for the local bushy-tailed rodents. However, I don't believe that any have visited since Mia and Lexi arrived in July. Certainly, none graced the ledge during Marian's visit, much to her chagrin, I know! <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />
Ok, so here I sit, typing away and Mia is perched regally on her throne, surveying her kingdom (queendom?), watching the rain pour down as it has been all morning, and the leaves flutter gracefully from the tree. Suddenly, she sits bolt upright, tail twitching behind her, ears pricked and alert. Through the shutters, I see movement. Oooo! I know what it is!!! I slip off my shoes so as not to distract Mia, I sneak down the stairs to grab my camera and pad back up, crawling stealthily up behind her on my hands and knees. <img src="/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />
On the ledge is a baby squirrel, busily grooming herself, oblivious to us through the glass. Mia, apparently, could care less about me and the potential distraction I pose; she is transfixed on this little creature, half her size, so near and yet so unreachable. I quickly try to snap a few shots, knowing in my heart that they probably won't come out through glass but taking the chance anyhow. I open the shutter door and Mia barely moves. Now Mia herself can sit on the ledge from the inside, her nose separated from the squirrel's by a mere pane of glass. She is surprisingly calm, and sits watching, fascinated. I close the slats of the shutters, hoping perhaps to cut the glare and I snap a few more shots. I have tried to capture not only the adorable baby squirrel (whose tail is pathetically thin and scraggly but whose fur everywhere else looks healthy, although wet) but I have also tried to capture Mia, watching the squirrel. Alas, I only have one of those disposable point-and-shoot cameras, with a flash. I've even taken a couple without the flash, just in case the flash is what causes the glare. (would a digital camera photograph through glass any easier?)
Soon, I put the camera down and just sit on the floor, watching with Mia as this baby methodically washes her face, then her hands, then her tail, over and over. Occasionally, she drops her tail and grabs it back. It is really scruffy-looking and she works on it for a long time. Her body is no more than 6 or 7 inches long and her ears are exquisitely transparent, her eyes, bright. She is a little gray squirrel with a white belly and if I were to pick her up, she'd fit easily into the palm of my hand. At one point, she stands up on her hind legs and appears to look right into the window at us. Mia rises quickly, and sits upright, as if to show that SHE is bigger, this is HER house and baby better not get any ideas!
Suddenly, baby jumps onto the brick wall and scrambles up, toward the roof. Mia contorts, to try to follow her route but baby is now gone from our sight (I am praying that there are no holes in the roof!!)
At least she took the brick wall and not the screen...where the pee stains from last year are still visible... <img src="/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />
