My Squirrel friend

Two weeks ago, I wrote about a squirrel I met in my yard. The day after I wrote that blog about him, he came for a visit . . . and much to my delight, he has visited me every day since then.

I'm almost embarrassed to admit how happy it makes me when I see him (might be a sign that I am finally ready to get another dog, since I seem so happy with his companionship) :-) I have found myself sitting in the backyard more often lately, because if I'm out there, he'll come by 3, 4 or 5 times, and he'll just hang out for a bit while I talk to him.

Sometimes, when I am on the phone, he'll come down and pretend he's going to dig in one of my pots. He'll stay there, not doing any actual digging, until I notice him and once I open the door and whisper "You remember you're not supposed to dig in my flower pots, right?" he'll excitedly run back up the fence. It's as if he just wants me to notice him.

Some mornings, I wake up and find him sitting on the back fence right outside the back patio door. It's as if he's waiting for me to get up. When he's there, I open the door and say good morning to him and he'll sit there for a minute, looking at me, and then casually walk down the fence.

Originally, I always knew he was my special squirrel friend because he walked very oddly. His arms and legs were farther out to the sides than most squirrels . . . so he almost looked more like a frog, with his belly closer to the ground. But while watching him this weekend, I realized he doesn't walk that way anymore. His arms and legs are tighter under his body, the way the rest of the squirrels look and it made me wonder if he was injured when I first met him . . . and if he started coming around so much because he needed some healing. I can't think of any other explanation for why he walks and runs so differently but now when he runs down the fence, he bounds just like the other squirrels and it makes me happy to know that he's feeling better.

Yesterday, he came by and hung out for about 20 minutes while I was sitting in the backyard working on the crossword puzzle. I decided I wanted to take a picture of him and asked if he'd mind sitting still while I did that. My sweet little friend was kind enough to hang out long enough for me to get my camera and snap several photos of him. He was so cute about it, he looked like he was actually enjoying his photo shoot, giving me several different poses. This one is my favorite. I have decided to call him Chester. I figured if we were going to spend this much time together, he ought to have a name other than "my squirrel friend."

I do think it's probably a sign that I am ready to get another dog. It will be interesting to see what the coming weeks have in store for me . . . but for the time being, I am happy to have Chester around to visit with. I hope he'll continue to come by for his daily visits.