Poor little squirrel!

"Come quick" he said.
I ran to the window. A poor little squirrel. Too close to a porcupine. He must have had about 12 huge quills in his tiny body. But he was still trying to eat the seeds on our deck floor. Having trouble moving around. He looked absolutely grotesque. "Will he die?"
"Dunno. He will work away at the things and try to pull them out. Then they will fester, get softer and if he hasn't died by then, I suppose they would come out more easily, and then maybe the festers heal".
Two days later, he was back. He'd managed to pull out quite a few! And although he still looked bedraggled and thin and grumpy, he was still alive and feeding on the sunflower seeds as best he could.
I was thrilled, and I don't even like squirrels.
In fact, we sometimes shoot them around here. They get into the bird feeder and generally cause a ruckus. But here I am pulling for the little guy and hoping that he cheats death and lives to tell his grandchildren the whole gruesome tale.
Wild things don't stand on ceremony. They don't pity. They don't ponder consequences or have second thoughts. And the code is always the same.
It's only when we humans try to "do things our way" that things get out of whack.
My little squirrel? I'll be watching for him. And when I'm falling asleep tonight, I'll be thinking - Hang in there! Don't give up! You can make it.
Update: I saw the little guy a few days later. Half of the quills were gone. The rest were shorter. He was wounded looking. He seemed to be limping.
Update: A week later we spotted him at the edge of the forest. He still looks tentative and weak.

"It will steal your soul"

So perceptive for a young person.
It was on Facebook. My granddaughter pondered doing those quiz things that the kids do. And a friend of hers answered "Don't start. It will steal your soul".
It seemed to strike a chord - as if she were talking to me.
Crossword puzzles. The Saturday Globe and Mail. Not an easy one. But I plow into it every week. With morning coffee. On the frig door. During commercials. At bedtime. It's a likeable challenge, but it comes with frustrations and feelings of inadequacy. And for what? Surely my time could be better spent.
Sudoku. I have a sister than can do the really hard Sudoku games. I feel myself getting hooked - found a good website the other day. They always make it sound like a piece of cake. "You still working on that?" he says. "Well, I thought I had it licked, and then it slapped me back down like a piece of meat!" Kind of like the game of golf I could have said to him.
A girlfriend loves bridge. Get the software, she was told. Play on the computer.
"Are you kidding!" she answered, "I would be playing it all the time!"
She knew. She knew instinctively that for some of us, it can steal your soul.

The Queen and Michelle

Can you believe it? Michelle Obama putting her arm around the Queen of England?
I thought I would have a heart attack! It was so "familiar" and "American" somehow. the long long arm just about ready to caress the Queen's back. A collective gasp all around the world.
And the difference in size was like a comedy routine. Michelle way up there. And poor Queenie way down there.
And yet. And yet. "Don't talk before she does" "Don't reach to shake her hand"
Don't you think this is all a bit archaic? Queen or not. Shouldn't we be beyond this silliness? Haven't we grown out of the whole "bowing" thing - and all it represents?
Americans love royalty, I've heard. They love the Queen thing.
At any rate - Michelle seemed determined to get real friendly with Elizabeth while she had the chance.
I wonder if she winced a bit when she saw the re-runs.

Planet Earth

It's amazing that the human species manages to do so much damage to Earth. After a road trip in Canada, it's worth pondering. Miles and miles and miles. So much of it uninhabited. And this is the part of Canada where we live. Think of the north. Thousands and thousands of miles with not one human being in sight. And if you were in an airplane, perhaps it would be even more awesome. Globing warming. Smog. Disappearance of species because of habitat loss. It goes on and on. "Can we fix it up in time?" Mmmmm.
Things look good outside my window. Right now. But we hear that they're 'upgrading' the county road. Taking down the last stand of trees that we've managed to keep upright for 30 years - ("Couldn't you just trim the top part of the trees that are running into the power lines?").
"The road is unsafe", they told us. "It has been unsafe for many years, and it's time to fix it." "It's such a little road" we say. "It doesn't look unsafe".
Yesterday we saw the little survey flags appearing. Can the graders be far behind?

It's always cold here

"It's always cold here".
I find myself saying this a lot. "Oh well, it's Canada. It's always cold here". Another rendition of the same thing. On a golf course that's newly opened for the season. Snow still lingering in tiny pockets here and there. And the starter guy with his clip board - "No problem. I have a foursome up ahead, and another booked in 10 minutes. You can go right now. You'll be doing 18 holes?". He's dressed in an enormous yellow jacket with a matching toque, and huge wooley mitts. No one seems to think it's the least bit strange. Windy. Cold. The odd snowflake coming down. Everyone bundled up in as many layers as can be arranged on a human body. With our golf bags carried on shoulders or strapped into pull carts, or safely moored on the back of a cold cold power cart. We grab a golf club and practice our swings, and try to look warm and busy rummaging in the bag for tees, and balls, and extra gloves.
The starter tells us we can go anytime, and laughs - "Have a good round and try to stay warm".
"Oh well, it's Canada. It's always cold here".