The last couple of weeks I have been staying in a cabin high up in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Outside on the deck you feel as if you are living in the trees. They grow higher than the tallest peak of the house.
On my first morning here I was joined by a squirrel. I watched as he made his way from tree to tree. Other times he just seems to sit and look out from his perch of an extended branch. Each day I have seen him, sharing his space.
As I spend my time in what feels like a tree house I begin to think how I am living the life of a squirrel. Ok, not totally the life of a squirrel but we share the same view. I wonder if he not only looks at the trees around him but looks out at the mountain across the way. Does he sit back listening to the rain fall or does he find it a hindrance to his plans to rummage around the forest? Or is he looking at it as an opportunity to sleep in?
While here I have experienced sunny days and rainy days. On the days that it has rained, there have been some pretty substantial downpours. I love the sound of listening to the rain fall as it falls to the leaves and finds its way down to the forest floor; I find it comforting. Does he?
On the sunny days, especially early in the morning I hear the squirrel announcing he is in the area. I often then see him leaping from tree to tree. On our deck we often find half eaten acorns, bigger than I have ever seen before. Is he discarding them or is he trying to share his collection?
Ok, if you are reading this and think I am nuts (pun intended) I really am not, but I do think it is fun to explore how we connect to everything else in the Universe, even a squirrel, and wonder how they view the world.
The good news is I am not “squirrelling” away a collection of nuts nor foraging for my food in the trees. But outside of that it isn’t so bad to live like a squirrel, at least for a little while.
