Right at Home

Within days of moving into our new place here in Nebraska a few months ago, the one thing that made me feel most immediately at home was not arranging the furniture, or unpacking and decorating with my favorite antiques, or even discovering where the nearest Panera Bread was...

It was the squirrels!

I missed squirrels in the city. We lived in downtown Chicago for over a year after we got married, and while you see squirrels in the parks or scampering across the sidewalks, you don't get to see too many furry little critters from the 8th floor windows of a high rise. Not anything like at home, where at any given time there are well over a dozen squirrels gathering at the birdfeeders at my parents house.

So on Sunday afternoon, Pete and I found a cute little nature shop in town (which also made me feel right at home... but more on that later :) and I scooped a couple pounds of black oil sunflower seed into a brown paper sack, feeling a little like a kid in a candy store. Once we got home, I sprinkled a little sunflower seed on the wide stone sill in front of the big livingroom picture window, and then sat back and waitied. It didn't take long!

I was worried I would scare the little guy, but I soon discovered that I can move around right in front of the window and it doesn't seem to bother him.

I could almost hear my mom rolling her eyes over the phone as I excitedly told her about my new little squirrel feeding set-up this morning. (I think she'd be more than happy to box up a couple of the squirrels from her place and send them to me :) But I love it!

He just munched and munched and munched, and when he had enough, he turned tail and scampered away...

But, with plenty of seed left in my brown paper bag, I'm pretty sure he'll be back tomorrow :)