Happiness is a place between too much and too little. ~ Chanwit Whanset
I saw this quotation today and decided I was going to incorporate it into this long-overdue post. I took these pictures of this sweet black squirrel several weeks ago (even before the garage door debacle, the finger fiasco, the computer meltdown and the hot as h*ll heat dome, all ugly incidents which seemed to encompass most of my July). But, every time I planned to do this post, it was either storming, or I stayed late at work, or I felt badly because I was so far behind in Reader, I couldn’t justify doing a post, so I just let it go.
There is no happy medium for anything these days, especially the weather. But, I have experienced joy this past few days as the weather has been just perfect … perfect to savor Summer as it was meant to be. I made up for Sunday’s lost miles by getting extra steps in each morning. On Sunday, I could not walk at Meijer, my go-to spot in hot weather, because the store was just one of many along Dix Avenue that lost power for two solid days.
Savoring the small things.
So, I have walked my socks off this week, savoring each step along the way. Unfortunately, the heat will return by the weekend, but it is supposed to stay sunny and rain-free (as of today anyway).
Just as walking in my favorite nature nook brings happiness to me, a single peanut gave a lot of happiness to this little black squirrel. Even though I dumped eight peanuts at her feet to enjoy, she took this one peanut and ran around on the ground as she circled the tree, while trying to decide whether she should bury it, or just eat this treasure. She went up and down the tree, looking coyly at me, while I kept saying: “Honey – enjoy that peanut because you’ve got plenty of other peanuts here for later!” This little Mama was full of energy and I had to grin at her antics and stop myself from gifting this little soul with the rest of the Ziploc bag of peanuts.
This was the series of pictures from the time I dropped peanuts on the path until she finally went up in the tree and eventually ate that prized peanut.
My squirrels are back on the path, lively as ever, although they didn’t come back right away after the Heat Wave of 2019. No, they stayed up in their nests until Wednesday morning. I fretted about their absence on the perimeter path, and when they returned, all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, believe me when I say I breathed a huge sigh of relief.
Linda Schaub
WALKIN', WRITIN', WIT & WHIMSY 
I’m glad the squirrels are responding to you again.
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Me too Anne – I was beside myself Tuesday when they weren’t there. Monday I just walked in the neighborhood as we’d had rain and it looked like it would pour any minute. Tuesday was crisp like a Fall day so fully expected them to be on the ground – none, not even in the neighborhood, but yesterday they came out of the woodwork.
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What a beautiful black squirrel. We don’t have any like this around here. Love the quote!
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I thought it was so beautiful too Rebecca and it just scampered around with the one nut in its mouth for a good 15 minutes – you could not help but just smile at it. And it would look at me kind of cagily, like I was going to take it away – meanwhile you saw all the rest of the peanuts laying there. 🙂 I had more pictures but decided to eliminate them – they were not all the same, but similar. I saw that quote today … I follow a photo site and they used it as today’s quote … I decided it was meant to be and I should do this cute little squirrel post today.
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Miss Linda…………………………….I loved it………I loved it………………….cute pictures of the squirrel holding the peanut in its mouth……………it made me smile
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Glad you liked it Ann Marie – this squirrel was so darn cute and raced around with the one peanut for the longest time and just gave me the cutest looks while doing so. It made my day.
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Such a small thing, a single peanut, to bring such joy to a small creature!
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I know Joni … I was taking pictures as I watched her running here, there and everywhere while I pondered the gears in her brain clicking away “do I hide it for Winter or next year, do I take it and eat it?” She wasn’t taking it to the nest for the young ones as it appears she is a new mother and still nursing the babies. But the looks on her face … all this happened over maybe 10 minutes or so as I watched her scurry around, scramble up a tree then down again. It just touched my heart. She was very photogenic.
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She looks so gorgeous!!!!! I’m glad you finally posted them 💕.
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I know Eliza – and very sweet and usually the black squirrels are very skittish and will run away from you whether you are offering peanuts or not, but this one was so self-absorbed about what to do with the peanut that I couldn’t help but smile at her antics. All this for one peanut when there were seven more laying there on the ground nearby. I think I mentioned this squirrel to you before … and I must ask the Department of Natural Resources about the other squirrel before I do a post on it … I am behind in Reader now three days, same as I was last weekend and I do try to keep up timely but work is very busy right now and next week will be even more so as we have a large project to get done so I will be working longer into the evening to salvage my weekend. I just decided last night to make my apologies that way and forge on with a post as I wanted to write about this little squirrel and her joys and mine of enjoying these past few days after this Summer that has been nothing special. We are having nice weather this weekend (as of now) so I am going to seize the opportunity to get out – who knows what next week will be like?
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Yeah, you did I think. This is not the one you wanted to name is it?
Good luck with your work. I was sad that you felt you needed to apologise but happy it let you post.
Hope the weather is nice for a while….
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I think I mentioned both of the squirrels I saw to you – this one and the other one with the tufts on the ears. I will use those pictures as well – shortly I hope.
Well, I caught up last weekend totally, then with working later and a storm Tuesday (despite it being absolutely gorgeous earlier in the day) I have fallen behind again. I hope to get caught up again this weekend. I hear it will be hot and humid this weekend, then next week cool again – the reverse would be nice, but I’ll be happy to enjoy the sunny day. I keep hearing about the massive heat wave over there – take care in that heat … it is like here last weekend, just too hot to go out and do anything unless you’re in an air-conditioned venue.
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I like your black squirrel photos. It’s as if he knows he’s photogenic and looks adorable holding anything that contrasts with his beautiful fur. A star is born.
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Ha ha … Ally, this squirrel was so darn cute that I couldn’t help but capture its movements as it pondered what exactly to do with one peanut when in fact there were seven more to enjoy. I had more pictures but had to eliminate them as even I admitted they all looked alike. I hope your weather is as enjoyable as ours has been the last few days – I needed the respite as we have been quite busy at work, the computer meltdown messed me up for remoting into work and a big project will keep me working late much of next week in order to salvage my weekend. I am behind here and in e-mail correspondence with friends as well … we are back with heat and humidity this weekend, but that I can deal with as long as it is not the oppressive weather like last week.
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This last week the words “stay cool” have taken on more meaning than usual. Like you, we’ve had a reprieve here, the humidity and temps gave way to *normal* summer weather. I hope you’re able to get back to your routine soon and with as little anguish as possible.
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Linda
She is so beautiful and looks well fed too. And her beautiful eyes- I am glad she prioritized herself instead of taking nuts for the babies in the nest.
Have you seen Parker or Impy or Grady yet?
Susie
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Amazing and beautiful pictures Linda!😊 I have never seen a black squirrels before. Here in Sweden we have just red squirrels, the European squirrel.
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Thanks John – this squirrel is very pretty, glossy black fur and a little bit of pink on its nose. I was just laughing at all the antics with the one peanut in her mouth – she didn’t want to drop it or eat it. Sometimes she reminded me of a guy with a cigar hanging out of the mouth. We have the black and gray squirrels, but not as many as the brown Fox Squirrels. These black squirrels and gray squirrels are much smaller and they hop when they run away. 🙂
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they stayed in the nest where each one had AC,TV and snacks!
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Yup, who needs a walk on the path when you can stay with the family in the nest with the AC on, watch a nice nature program on the TV and enjoy a nutty chocolate bar? Do they still make Coffee Crisp chocolate bars in Canada? Every time we went to Canada to visit my grandmother we used to stock up on them – my mom used to really like them.
Here in the States they call them candy bars; in Canada they were called chocolate bars, unless that has changed.
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yep,has one last week! I bet Parker would love one while watching a movie about humans all dying in a Zombie apocalypse!
He’d be chuckling to himself too!
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Parker would call those humans a “nut job”.
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Don’t you feel good after a week of “walking your socks off”? I always feel great after a good running week. We had some beautiful days in PA too, and now I am enjoying Colorado’s low humidity, but not the lack of oxygen in the air! 🙂 How do you know this squirrel is a “she”?
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I do feel great Laurie and I was getting 5 to 5 1/2 miles in every morning this week – we are getting cooler weather next week again, so I’m happy for that. Oh yes, that pesky oxygen issue means you can’t run while there. I could tell it was a female since she stood on her haunches and I could see she had been nursing – four babies, maybe six. Scroll down and take a closer look at the picture. I actually didn’t notice it when I took the pictures, just after I saw them on the screen.
This is the only black squirrel I see at the Park – I called it Midnight, maybe it is “Ms. Midnight” now. 🙂
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Oh, I will scroll down and take a closer look.
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whew -so glad they made it thru the heat
and loved this line
“walked my socks off this week, savoring each step along the way”
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I am glad they made it too Yvette – they are the little bonus at the Park that keeps me coming back. We just had another hot weekend and after another storm later today, the heat will disappear for a few days. I’m glad for that because I am ready for Fall. Glad you liked that line because that is really how I felt – that heat just drags you down and it was so refreshing!
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yes – i am not quite ready for fall – but those hot days are getting old …
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I hear you Yvette – Fall is my most favorite season even though it signals the snow and cold is on the way and RVA has had its share of Winter the last few years. We have a brief respite from the heat starting tomorrow – looking forward to it.
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enjoy the break from the heat! it was like an oven today – miserable ☀️
and the worst winter in rva is still small for me – i grew up in buffalo – we know snow there
but rva does have black ice that was new to me
not sure if your friends mention it – but it is terrible
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Hi Yvette – We have cooler weather this morning and I’m going to get our early – Our weather is supposed to be good through the weekend but humidity and the chance of rain beginning Sunday but late in the day. I am just swamped at work and had still another house mishap this week – hot water tank stopped working (not quite 9 years old) and thought it was the pilot light, no – it was a gas valve and it was recommended to get a new one versus a repair. So that happened yesterday – working from home, so that was convenient, but I lost a walk two days and it was really disruptive since I was so busy … sigh. I hope this is it for a while for issues.
My RVA friend has mentioned the black ice and she was lucky this year because as she completes her grad work, she is finishing off her 600-hour internship this week. She has been commuting to Charlottesville since March (been doing 5 days a week since school was done a few months ago). She is at a big nursing facility in C’ville. She began the internship when there was some snow, but more black ice and I think she said it was a 70-mile round trip if I remember correctly. She had the option of staying in a hotel across the street at a reduced rate if the weather was too bad, but she did not have to do that. She sends me pictures of the snow and the ice – a beautiful pic of her rain chain where the water had frozen. Buffalo, NY … well you were right in the snow belt. We had a lot of snow in Oakville growing up, then when we moved to the U.S. in 1966 it was not as measurable, or cold. My friend lives in Honeoye Falls, NY and they have whopper snowstorms – I follow her on Facebook and it seems to me all she does is post pics of massive piles of snow all Winter. Our weatherman says tomorrow it will feel the first of September.
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wow – tomorrow will feel september-ish?
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and your glad your friend’s commute to Charlottesville has mostly been good weather – charlottesville is one of my favorite places to visit and son lives there with his fiancé
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and syracuse new york is actually supposed to hold records for snow amounts
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but in buffalo was had lake effect
and you know linda – when i moves away at 20 – it was because of weather or lack of liking buffalo – i loved it there and only left short term to help my sister and take a break from university (and my family had just moved to florida – so there i went for a break – but never went back to live in NY- went to CO and met hubs)
but the weather in western new york made me strong – i sometimes had to shovel my car out (when lived with roommates while in college) and then shovel what the snow plow left to get back in my parking space! no wimpy whining – we just did it! lol
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Yes, she is glad she had good weather for the 600-hour internship. She has been at Westminster Canterbury of the Blue Ridge a nice facility.
I was only in Canada until age 10 but I can remember we had a VW Beetle and lived on a crescent and my father would go out in the morning and have to shovel the whole car off. I know I’d be put out to play with layers and bundled up – never thought anything of being out the cold as we were prepared. You do make it sound difficult with all that snow and shoveling out. I worked at a diner through college and parked in the driveway. I had to be on the floor on weekends by 6:45 a.m. I’d get out there in my short uniform and coat and be shoveling the driveway to get out of the house to work timely … we were younger and hardier stuff then Yvette!
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that squirrel was totally modeling for you!!
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I thought so too – “here, please get my best side Linda!” It amazed me with the antics for one peanut – I came home with a ton of pictures. I always take too many pictures and then have to winnow them down.
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wir haben auch nie ein schwarzes Eichhörnchen gesehen
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Schwarze Eichhörnchen sind sehr süß, schüchtern, aber Erdnüsse können sie zum Besuch überreden. 🙂
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