Flying Squirrel

Not one of those squirrels with membrane between its front and rear legs so it looks like it has a parachute when it leaps from tree to tree. No, this is a regular, run-of-the-mill squirrel leaping from a patio chair to the square green birdfeeder. It hunkers down on the chair back and then launches itself across the space at an alarming rate and slams into the feeder, setting it wildly swinging. Crazy and acrobatic.

 

Just when I thought I'd dump the nuggets out of the feeder, look what showed up. A Red-bellied Woodpecker landed on the feeder, chased away all of the Sparrows clinging to the feeder, and had a nice long snack. It's like the Woodpeckers have ESP. Every time I think I'll dump the nuggets and take down the feeder, a Woodpecker shows up.

 

In the afternoon I got out my watercolors, taped a half sheet of paper to a plexiglass board, and did a sketch of the still life I drew yesterday in pencil and marker. It's okay, except the oranges are flattened looking and didn't turn out the way I wanted them to.

 

So I got out the other half of the piece of paper and did another one. This time I made the oranges bigger so there wasn't as much room on the paper for the plate and I skipped painting in any grapes. It's a little better. I feel better about calling them sketches rather than paintings because I painted them fast and loose and didn't take much time with them.

 

I spent part of the afternoon reading the manuscript on the Kindle and making notes. Then I filled the square green feeder and the tube feeder and put cob corn out. All summer the chipmunks ate the corn, not leaving any for the squirrels but I think maybe the chipmunks are hibernating already because a Mourning Dove cleaned up the spilled seed on the patio.

Most of the time I listened to an audiobook and stared into space. Very restful.

--Barbara