Walk in #2

Okay before we get to the second walk in, let's just clear up some things on my friend the squirrel! So, he gave me the sad eyes and disappeared for the rest of the day. BUT, he returned the following day AND brought along two of his friends! Of course I had gone out and purchased a special squirrel feeder by now so I knew he would be delighted ... or not! Not only did he figure out a way to get onto the woodpecker bar, he continued on to the suet feeder and then found a way to get down onto the bird feeder! Then, he chewed the strap off of the bird feeder so that it fell to the ground and he gorged himself on all the food! I, being the Lehigh Engineer, patched the feeder back together again not by using my favorite material, cardboard, but by attaching a rope strap to hold the feeder up on the clothesline. He continued, then, to get back on the bird feeder to eat, in spite of the snowballs being chucked at him by Garrick (and to be honest ... me). It's not that I don't want to provide all the animals with food for the winter, but when the squirrel (and his friends) monopolize the food supply, the poor birds can't eat. Well, this set him off. He became so angry, that he then tried to find a way to get into the house! He was climbing on the screens of the porch and looking for crevasses near the doors. He probably figured that I must be keeping some food in the house (little did he know about my 'store' in the basement)! Well when he realized that 'the house that Jack built' was as tight as tight can be, he went back to the bird feeder for Round 12(?). Apparently, he didn't attend a very progressive nursery school when he was young as he just doesn't know how to share. He decided that the best way to ensure that the bird feeder would be his and only his was to chew off the perches that the birds sit on while they eat. AND, once this was accomplished he chewed a big hole in the thing so that the next day when I went out to restock the feeder, imagine my surprise on finding the food I poured into the feeder, ending up immediately on the ground!!! Today I'm off to purchase yet another feeder and this time, I will hang it on a wire strung between the two trees instead of the clothesline. Wish me luck!

So, in the midst of all this squirrel business, we had yet another bout of freezing rain. This time, I decided to be tough ... like George and Anne, his wife. Tuesday morning, we left for the school bus ... a little later than we should have, given the weather of the previous night ... ash can in hand. Well, it was treacherous. I don't think I hit ten miles per hour during the whole mile and a half. And, even at five miles per hour, I was sliding all over the place. I thought for sure Garrick would miss the bus but I was in no hurry to go off the side of the very narrow road, or should I say path, into the ditch where my truck might end up for the entire winter. Skip was late too so Garrick made the bus.

As we were driving out to the bus, I was trying to decide whether or not I could get the truck back in to the house again. But when Garrick told me to leave the truck at the parking lot, I knew I wasn't the only one scared by my driving! Fortunately, I had brought a coat, gloves, albeit thin ones, and boots. But, I didn't have the cell phone. So, I dumped the ashes out of the ash can, and went on my way ... back to the house. When I slipped on the ice and fell about one third of the way in, I really had my doubts about staying here for the whole winter. I can't tell you how badly my knee hurt. As I was laying on the ground, wondering what to do, I realized I had two choices; I could get up and walk as best I could with my sore knee, or I could stay and freeze to death. Obviously, I made it back and the rest of the walk gave me some time to reflect. Since then, I remember to bring my cell phone and wear proper clothing whenever I go out, and I've packed an emergency kit for the car and the snowmobile. As soon as I returned to the house, I took ibuprofen and continued to take it for the next 24 hours, and I iced my knee, with a bag of frozen broccoli, for the rest of the morning. While I won't be playing dodge ball with the kids at Open Gym today, I am getting around just fine now.

So, we have been using the snowmobile for the past two days to get in and out of here. Garrick thinks it is the best adventure of his life; I, on the other hand, do not enjoy spending half the morning trying to thaw out after a ride back and forth to the bus stop! Tomorrow's high is supposed to be about -13 C (9 F) ... before windchill. With this in mind and since we received about six inches of snow yesterday, I am ready to try to bring the truck back in again. Anne told me at the bus stop this morning that the road was fine, but that was right before she got stuck trying to get out of the parking lot!

Garrick had a little sliding incident of his own yesterday. While waiting for the bus (I was long gone ... headed back to the fire on my snowmobile), he decided to clean the snow off of the truck. There was ice under the snow and he slipped on the ice and slid all the way underneath the truck. The only reason he didn't come out the other side was that there was a patch of grass under the truck that slowed him down! He said that he had to pull himself back out. Good thing the kids on the bus didn't see ... emmmmbarrassing! Guess he won't be wearing his Hawk sneakers to school anymore ... time to put on those not-so-cool snow boots for the winter.

Karyn