Flurry in "Her" Apartment

At 2:00 this morning, I found a very happy Flurry Possum in the cat condo apartment she considers hers. I just love the possums' tiny pink toes.

Tenacity

When I left PT yesterday, these Stel D'Oro lilies were still blooming.

 I admire their tenacity.

Gizmo the Squirrel

The following is a true story -- with my own ending

Photo by James  Barker, courtesy of Free Digital Photos

Gizmo and His Family

Gizmo was a reddish-brown squirrel with a fluffy tail who lived in the hollow of an old oak tree with his wife, Gillyflower. But they didn't call each other Gizmo and Gillyflower. They called each other Honey. In squirrel talk, of course, so it came out something like chitchitchittercheechee.

"Honey, I'm home!" Gizmo called as he entered the hollow in the tree. His cheeks were so stuffed with acorns that he almost could not get inside the opening that was the door to their den.

“I see that, Honey," said Gillyflower, who sat right next to the door, watching over their sleeping triplets, Garth, Gail and Glen. The babies' parents called them Garth, Gail and Glen. "The babies just ate, and they're taking a nap so they can play with their Papa."

"Good," said Gizmo, unloading the acorns into a crack in the hollow. The crevice next to it was already full, and Gizmo looked around with pride.

"The cracks and crevices are almost all full," he said with satisfaction. "Next, I will fill the hollow below ours and then the one above. We will have plenty of food to last us through the winter."

"Soon the babies will be big enough to leave the nest, and then. I can help you gather more food. And we will teach the babies how to gather, too." 

Just then Garth opened his little brown eyes and saw Gizmo.

“Papa! Papa!” shouted Garth, waking his sister and brother. Soon all three babies were shouting.

“Papa! Play with us! Play with us!” So Gizmo played tag, horseback ride and hide-and-seek with his babies until Garth, Gail and Glen were worn out. Then the little ones up together and fell sound asleep. Gillyflower covered them carefully with leaves and dandelion fluff. Then she joined Gizmo to stand in the opening to their den. She pressed her head tight against Gizmo’s and sighed in contentment as they watched the sunset together.

“We have such a good life,” said Gizmo. “Being a squirrel is the best thing in the world.”

Gizmo Meets Mr. Bill

On a sunny day not long after, Gizmo hummed a happy little squirrel tune as he gathered horse chestnuts and maple seeds to add to the pile in the hollow below the den. Suddenly he stopped. A metal pan lay on the ground right in front of him. And it had something in it. Something that smelled like nuts, but not any nuts that grew in the yard. Gizmo reached out a paw and picked up a nut. He turned it around and around, checking it out carefully from every side. Then he held it up to his nose and sniffed it. He bit off a piece of shell and shook it. Out fell two strange-shaped nuts. Gizmo took a cautious bite of one. It was good!

“Do you like the peanuts, Gizmo?” Startled, Gizmo looked up to the porch, where the voice came from. He recognized the man speaking although they had never met. The porch was on an apartment house, and this man, Mr. Bill, lived in the first apartment just inside the door. Mr. Bill held a bag that still had some peanuts in it.

“Go ahead and eat all you want,’ said Mr. Bill “I’ll put more in the pan every day.” For the next several minutes, Gizmo ate and ate. Then he stuffed his cheeks full and ran up the tree to the den.

“Honey you’ve got to try these nuts,” he said excitedly, handing one to Gillyflower. She tore the shell off the nut and bit into one. Her eyes opened wide.

“That’s good!” she exclaimed. “I never tasted something like this before. Where did it come from?”

“Mr. Bill filled a whole pan with them, and he said he’s going to do it every day! He calls them peanuts.

“Tell you what,” said Gizmo, “I’ll stay with the babies, and you go out and eat all the peanuts you want. If there are any left over, we can put them with the rest of our food supply for the winter.”

“And if Mr. Bill puts more out every day, we can add lots and lots of peanuts to our winter supply.”

“That’s wonderful, Honey!” said Gillyflower. “We can eat the peanuts for dessert all winter!” And with that, she leaped out of the den and ran down the tree to the yard. When she had eaten all she wanted, there were still lots left over. Filling her mouth with peanuts, she ran back up the tree to the lower hollow and deposited the peanuts in a crevice.  Then she smiled a squirrel smile. This would be the best winter ever!

After that, Gizmo brought peanuts to Gillyflower every day, and they both stashed peanuts in the tree hollows for winter meals.

And then one day when Gizmo hurried to the pan, he found it empty! What had happened? Did Mr. Bill forget? Was he sick? Gizmo was very confused and upset. What could he do? He looked up at the porch. The door to the building was open; he could see Mr. Bill’s door just inside. Maybe if he …

Gizmo found himself on the steps up to the porch. How had that happened? Never mind; he was almost all the way up, so he might as well continue. When he reached the porch, he stopped and looked around. Nobody was in the hall or on the steps. He couldn’t hear Mr. Bill moving around in his apartment. Maybe he had fallen and couldn’t get up. Sometimes that happened to older humans. Slowly, Gizmo crossed the porch. He took a deep breath and stepped across the threshold into the hall. So far, so good.

Gizmo stood in front of Mr. Bill’s door. Cautiously, he raised a paw and made it into something like a fist, like he had seen human visitors do.

Knock, knock, knock. Was that right? It was a very small knock. Once again. Knock, knock, knock.

It worked! He could hear Mr. Bill moving around inside. In a couple of minute the door opened and Mr. Bill looked out. But he was looking up high.

“Chitchitchit!” said Gizmo. That did it. Mr. Bill looked down. His eyes got big, and his mouth fell open.

“Gizmo!” he said, “Was that you knocking? I never heard of a squirrel knocking on a door before.”

“Chitchitchitter!” said Gizmo.

“The peanut pan is empty,” said Mr. Bill. What was this? Did Mr. Bill understand squirrel language?

“Chitterchitterchitchitchit!” said Gizmo, urgently.

“All right,” said Mr. Bill. “I’ll be out with more peanuts in a couple of minutes.”

He shut the door, and Gizmo was left marveling. A human who understood squirrel language! Would wonders never cease? He scampered back out to the yard, and sure enough, in a couple of minutes here came Mr. Bill with his bag of peanuts.

He poured peanuts into the pan until they were heaped up extra high. Gizmo hurried to fill his cheeks with nuts because he could see other squirrels heading for the pan. Here came Gustav -- and Burt the Bully, with the usual frown on his face. Everybody filled their cheeks and ran back to their trees, making trip after trip until the pan was empty again.

After that, whenever Gizmo found the pan empty, he scampered up the steps, across the porch and to Mr. Bill’s door. He knocked and Mr. Bill always opened the door and promised to bring peanuts right out. The squirrel family’s stack of desserts grew higher and higher. Life was good.

The Family Goes Visiting

“Honey,” said Gillyflower one summer day, “the babies are ready to leave the nest. They’re eating solid food now, and they are big and strong. They’re almost as big as we are.”

“All right,” said Gizmo. “We will take them out today.” He turned to the children.

Now, watch Papa and me, and do what we do.”

The kids followed their parents down the trunk of the tree. The outside world was so much fun! With lots of room to run, they began to chase each other round and round and up and down the trees. In the following days, Gizmo and Gillyflower showed Garth, Gail and Glen how to gather delicious food for the winter. The kids also enjoyed eating the peanuts left by Mr. Bill. In fact, they all enjoyed the peanuts so much that Gizmo made a decision. The next day he called the family together.

“Garth! Gail! Glen! Brush off all the leaves and fluff. You’re going visiting today!”

“Hooray! Hooray!” called the kids. “We’re going visiting! Who are we going to visit?”

“Just get ready, and you’ll see,” said Gizmos. “There is someone I want all of you to meet. You too, Honey,” he said to Gillyflower. Quickly, the youngsters began to brush each other’s fur.

“Hold it, Garth,” said Gail. “There’s a bit of leaf behind your ear. She tossed the piece of leaf to the floor. Soon all the squirrel children’s fur was brushed and shining.

“You all look so elegant,” said Gillyflower. “You make me very proud. You’re ready for whoever we’re going to meet.

“And you look elegant, too, Honey,” said Gizmo. He led the way, with Gillyflower at his heels and the children not far behind. They all scampered across the yard.

“Aren’t we going to eat some peanuts?” asked Glen as they passed the peanut pan.

“Not right now,” said Gizmo, as he ran right up the steps on to the porch. His whole family stopped short. Going into a house! They weren’t ready for that.

“Come on,” urged Gizmo. “It’s safe. This is my friend Mr. Bill. He’s the one who gives us the peanuts. I want him to meet my whole family, and I want you to meet him.” Gillyflower put one foot on the bottom step, then the other one. The children pushed up against her, kind of hiding behind her.

“Oh, come on,” she said with determination. “We don’t know Mr. Bill, but we know we can trust your father.” Moments later they all stood in front of Mr. Bill’s door. Gizmo raised his paw and knocked on the door. They all stood quietly, waiting, and a couple of minutes later the door opened.

“Chitchitterchittercheecheechit,” said Gizmo.

“Oh,” said Mr. Bill, “so this is your family. What a nice family”

“He knows squirrel language!” Gillyflower whispered to her husband.

“Yes, isn’t it exciting?” Gizmo whispered back. Gillyflower looked right at Mr. Bill.

“Cheechittercheechee,” she said.

“Why, thank you,” said Mr. Bill. “I’m very pleased to meet you, too.”

Gizmo Takes on a Bully

It was autumn, and Gizmo and his whole family were gathering nuts and seeds for winter. Their den and the downstairs hollow were both full; the upstairs hollow had only a little space left. The peanuts supplied by Mr. Bill had helped a lot. Gustav came up and started picking up peanuts from the pan, too. Then Mack and his family joined them and – oh-oh! – Burt the Bully. As usual, Burt had a scowl on his face. He always frowned at everyone.

For some time, the squirrels worked peacefully, but Gizmo kept a sharp eye on things. Burt the Bully was edging closer and closer to Garth. Suddenly, Burt knocked Garth right over, hit him in the face and stole the peanut right out of his paws! Garth squealed in pain and pressed a paw to his face.

Like a streak of lightning, Gizmo leaped straight across the peanut pan and punched Burt in the face. Now it was Burt who went rolling in the dust, squealing with pain and fright.

“Cheecheecheechit!” screamed Gizmo, meaning, “Leave my kid alone!” Burt shielded his face with his paws as Gizmo continued to pummel him.

“All right! All right! I’m sorry!” whimpered Bully. “Just let me up. I’ll never go near anyone in your family again.” Gizmo stopped hitting him. He stepped back and let Bully get up off the ground.

“That’s better,” said Gizmo. “There are plenty of peanuts for everyone. Just stick to picking up your own and don’t ever steal from someone else again.”

“I promise,” Burt said humbly as he got up. “It’s just that nobody seems to like me, and that makes me get wild sometimes.”

“Everybody would like you just fine if you didn’t bully them,” said Gizmo. “If you were nice to them, they’d be nice to you.”

“Really?”

“Really. Try it.”

“But they all hate me now. How can I ever convinced them that I’ve changed?”

“I’ll tell you what,” said Gizmo. “Why don’t you come to dinner with us tonight? When people see that I’m not mad at you, they will be more likely to give you a chance.” Burt was astonished.

“You’d do that for me?”’

“Yeah,” said Gizmo. “I’d rather have a friend than an enemy, anytime.” Burt turned to Garth.

“I’m really sorry, Garth. Will you forgive me?”

“Sure,” said Garth. “Are you coming to dinner at our house?”

“I guess I am,” said Burt. And for the first time since they had known him, Burt smiled.

No Sam Campbell

I have to face it, I'm no Sam Campbell. Last night I set out food and water for the possums outside my Grammy Cave and shut and latched the door. I slept without fear of having to clean up possum waste.

But I did get up a couple of times and refill their dishes.