Who Heard Squirrels

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.

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!)

The Battery Box That Housed the Squirrel

Izzy the Blind Cat having a siesta

Name Change

This is common knowledge, no doubt, but I just learned
that Minnesota means, literally, "Sky-tinted water." So I
have decided to change my name from Mekeel
(and who knows what that means, Dutch, surname,
probably something like Friend of Cheese Maker but Enemy of
Goats) to Minnesota. Nickname, Minni (water).
What do you think?

(This photo is by Sue Roberts.)

The Fish/David Shumate

The Fish by David Shumate from THE FLOATING BRIDGE

My wife draws a picture of a fish to remind me to go to
the market and leaves it by the bed. It is a healthy fish.
One you might find in an encyclopedia to represent its
species. A trout, perhaps. It is smiling. As if the world
were pleasantly disposed to its kind. As if it has just
spoken with a deity and knows that things are going
to work out fine. Soon it will come upon a greater sea.
Insects will sacrifice themselves to its cause. Other
beasts will strive to be like it. This morning it has
discovered, hidden somewhere near its heart, the soul
it always suspected it had. It has visited there twice
already. It is like swimming in the air. A thousand rivers
to choose from. An eternity of waters. It is quite
a remarkable fish.

The youngsters

The picture below looks straight down into the squirrel house where I've just put fresh fleece and new branches. And this is one of the junior mints, hoping I'll put down the camera and feed her. I did.

Squirrel Babies

Last night, I came home with three baby squirrels. Mine are older than the one in the picture.
Their eyes are open but they are still mighty small. I feed them four times a day. I guess you might call me a foster mom. Here's another poem from Howard Norman's Swampee Cree Indian poems. On my top ten list of all time favorite books but long out of print.

One time I wished myself in love.
I was the little squirrel
with dark stripes.
I climbed shaky limbs with fruit for her.
I even swam with the moon on the water
to reach her.
That was a time little troubled me.
I worked all day to gather food
and watched her sleep all night.
It is not the same way now
but my heart still sings
when I hear her
over the leaves.

Stay Awake!

You can see how red these tulips are and its easy to imagine them shining even in the dark. Usually, I am so swamped with school work in the spring that I literally never see them until after their petals have shattered. Even then I only register that they've been there in a distant sort of way. That's WAY too busy.
New goal. To stay fully awake in spring no matter what!

Dreamiest of the Dream Pens

I don't know if the lettering will show up but this magnificent Italian pen, the first to be truly leak-proof, costs $1,436.00 and that's the SALE price! It will have to be, always, a dream pen
but I most certainly love looking at it!

SOME OF THE TERMS OF LONG TERM CARE

1. Eat at least one grapefruit every morning, especially
in the winter.

2. Keep a garden, even if only in your imagination.

3. In order to take yourself lightly, practice high wire
walking every day for at least five minutes. Make sure
to keep a trampoline directly beneath the high wire
which, incidentally, should be no more than two feet
off the ground.

4. Read a good poem before you go to sleep.

5. Read a good poem upon waking.

6. Allow rebirth to occur with essay writing. For every
creative essay you write, you extend your life by one year,
your health by two.

7. Say Yes loudly three times and take action on each
sweet golden sunrise before you allow the tiny
hard seed of no to sprout in the very dirty dirt of doubt.

8. Visit the Bedouins at least once a year.
Bring your own camel.

9. Believe in the rivers that have disappeared under deserts.

10. Every animate and inanimate being is inhabited
holiness. They pray for you. Remember to pray for them.

11. Go to an antique store and buy an old sled. Use it in snow,
on sand, in petals.

12. Build a bed in a tree. Sleep there. You will not know
if you are in a boat or a hot air balloon. Your dreams,
thus suspended in a sanctuary of light leafiness,
will teach you the miracles particular to hand carved wooden
bowls, the secrets hidden deep inside mirrors, the architecture
of birds nests and pyramids.

13. Yes, it is worth buying -- costs nothing, lasts as long as you do.

Home

As a kid, I spent every free moment living inside the forsythia bush -- when it bloomed. It was so huge that the blossoms hid me entirely. A brief but miraculous castle.

Complete Silliness

FIRST INDOOR ANT OF SPRING!

Just in the last hour, the tulips are beginning to open. It's over 90 degrees outside --
middle of summer heat in April. But that's New England. Seems to me there has never been a book on earth more beautiful than this bloom!

I feel quiet, sturdy joy every time I see the green world defeat concrete, even if the concrete is a wall on my property! In this case, the plant life seems to be making a leafy chapel.

Slept a long time at the bottom of the sea

When the ship sank, this small tea bowl and saucer drifted to the bottom of the South China
Sea and stayed there for over 300 years. Today, I
took them down to the river to photograph them. But not too close. It seems unlikely they'd want anything further to do with heavy water. I haven't even been able to make myself pour tea into the cup. But I do spend a fair amount of time daydreaming about their long, long drift and sleep in the South China Sea. . .