Dec 31 2008
Small Details on the Last Day of 2008
I was an insomniac last night, so I saw the snow accumulating outside. The flakes were too fine to see in the dark, but they had a faint luster when gathered together on the ground. I flicked on the porch light at about 2 am. The snow melted on the residual heat of the yard, but it had transformed the walk, drive and road into gleaming white paths.
A few inches covered everything when I rose. (Late in the morning, I must add.) I pulled on my gloves and grabbed shovel and broom. While working, I finally saw a few black squirrels. Something must have gotten a taste for squirrelmeat, because over the course of a few weeks this fall, the neighborhood and the nearby town seemed deserted. A young, skinny Eastern Gray squirrel began frequenting my yard a few weeks ago, but he was a regular gray, not the black variation that usually dominates.
Note to regular readers: I recognize the irony of missing the very squirrels that pillaged birdfeeders and reduced suet blocks to claw-scraped nuggets last winter. It just proves the old adage (and Hair Metal song chorus): You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.
