It was a gray morning and I fought getting out of bed. Pudgy pushed her face into mine with the not so subtle message that she was hungry and wanted breakfast. Okay, okay.
I stretched and yawned and shuffled into the bathroom. Looking out the window I noticed our dog Booker sitting in the backyard like the RCA Victor dog. He was frozen. This was getting interesting so I edged closer to the window while Pudgy voiced her displeasure.
Booker was intently watching a red squirrel make small bursts of forward motion towards the bird feeder. The squirrel seemed to be unaware that Booker was not a fugly lawn ornament of some sort. Maybe it wasn’t the brightest squirrel in the tree for it foolishly kept making chittering sounds and twitching its tail as it approached the feeder pole.
Blip, blip, blip. Up the pole and onto the mesh bird feeder the squirrel went. Sunflower seeds spilled to the ground as the feeder swung in protest at the squirrel’s weight. Seemingly launched by NASA, Booker made a spectacular leap towards the stunned squirrel. Whumpf! Snap! I swear the squirrel’s tail was nearly floss for Booker’s teeth as he clashed his anticipating jaws shut. I thought of televised nature shows where a shark leaps from the ocean and picks off an unsuspecting bird in flight. Booker wasn’t as successful, but no less impressive.
The squirrel seemed surprised that lawn ornaments were so vicious and took off like a soul possessed. Booker crashed into the chain link fence while in hot pursuit, and then paced for a few moments before giving up on his prey.
So much drama and action equaled a fun way to wake up. No living thing got hurt, and harmony was restored to the back yard for about two minutes. Pudgy, however, still wanted her breakfast, and it wasn’t going to make itself. Animals in action. It was the best part of my day.
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