Acrobat

We have happy hour out on the patio almost every evening now. Mr S and I split a beer (I get the small half) and have a little cheese and crackers and watch the creatures in the garden. Lots of sparrows in the sunflowers, the occasional busy hummingbird, a marauding bluejay after the meager crop of blueberries. Lately we have an acrobatic squirrel on the giant sunflower. The stem of this thing is about three inches in diameter, so it is plenty strong to hold this bouncing little rodent who is quickly stripping all the seeds. I think it is a female, probably with babies at home. She grips the edge of the seed head with her tiny back claws, and curls around to grab chunks of seeds in her forepaws. Then she hangs upside down and stuffs the seeds in her fat little cheeks. When she's processed that portion she swings back up and grabs some more, never losing track of us as we appreciate her hard work. It's very funny--all that swinging and stuffing and fluffing of the tail. We'll see if she comes back tomorrow.