from The Wishing Bone Cycle translated by Howard Norman
He would just stop in the middle
of talking, as if he heard
squirrel noises.
And, he knew which tree to wait under
for squirrels. Even if he went out
in the dark
he knew which tree was going to be loud
before the squirrels got there!
I always remember this out loud
to people too: He would stop paddling
out near the center of a fishing lake,
to listen. Quietly. He would say nothing,
just chew his knuckles
with his teeth
to show me he heard a squirrel.
I knew he wishes his knuckles
were walnuts!
That far out in the lake I could hear
the paddles drip water all right,
but no squirrel noises!
But I saw a squirrel wake up
in his face, each time this happened.
Monday, May 4, 2009
What Comes Round, Goes Round. . .Or . . .
How The Blind Cat Was Saved From Certain Death By. . .I now have six baby squirrels that I'm feeding. Yesterday, the Center
for Wildlife called and asked if I could meet a man who'd found a
baby squirrel and drive the baby up to the Center. Of course. Almost
four weeks old, eyes still closed, wrapped in an orange washcloth
and set into a Super Crank Battery Box. I delivered the baby
to the Center and returned home to several small but
time consuming animals upsets.
I'd been home for quite some time when I realized that Izzy,
the blind cat, wasn't in the house. I live very close to a busy road and
never let the cats out. He'd probably been outside for at least an hour.
His chances for being alive? slim. I flew out of the house and looked
and looked -- no Izzy, no Izzy -- but a few minutes later heard the
outraged chattering of a squirrel in a tree.
And there was Izzy at the base of the tree, mesmerized by the
crazy squirrel be-bop. Oh, I know the squirrel was warning
everyone in the neighborhood that a big old bruiser of a cat was
loose and anyone of small means should hide their babies.
No way around it, the squirrel saved the cat from flat-dom.
(And who initially rescued the little blind baby? A hunter!)
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