Nibbles the Untamed Squirrel

Introducing Nibbles the Squirrel

I got at least one phone call letting me know about American Squirrelgate today.  A social media star, Peanut the Squirrel, was abducted and euthanized by New York wildlife officials who, according to the media, raided a man's home and euthanized his pet squirrel for fear of rabies.  People, and sometimes governments, can be cruel.  A poignant fact to think about 2 days from an election.  I find myself contemplating the importance of character in positions of authority.  It reminds me of something a talent manager told me when discussing how to motivate staff to performance.  He said -- you need to understand the motivation to lead.  If the motivation is power, never promote them to authority.  Intrinsic integrity and empathy are better foundations for leadership.  Find those motivated by achievement, contribution to the greater good as your future leaders.  Good advice I say.

But once more I am off topic.  RIP to Peanut the squirrel.  Here in the US there is a lot of media coverage, and especially social media response, to Peanut getting murdered.  It's actually become a political meme, because things are so very political here.  It shall be my goal to keep my squirrel safe by remaining wild, and apolitical.

  I do believe it's still legal for a squirrel to scurry along your deck, and so I will introduce Nibbles, the very untame squirrel.  Nibbles is cozied into some burrow out in the woods -- I know because I heard him chattering in a tree not so long ago.  Nibbles has given up raiding my bird feeder with all the snow...let's be honest, pioneering through 21 inches is a bit like climbing Everest when you are just a tiny rodent.

Nibbles appeared at my feeder after a long absence away from home this summer.  The cat sitter noted that she saw a squirrel on the deck, but the squirrel was so rattled to see her that he dove off the second story deck, bounced off her car, and ran off, never to be seen again during her tenure.

When I got home though, and was laying on the floor lazily with my equally lazy cat, Mr. Muffins, I was surprised to see Mr. Muffins jog over to the window.  Not a cat that is fond of exercise or play time, he virtually sprinted to the window.  Turns out while I was gone, he entered into a window peepshow relationship with said squirrel.  Much to my surprise, I noticed they were literally playing with each other.  The squirrel looking in, the cat looking out, both of them darting back and forth, and pricelesslessly, Mr, Muffins rolling over to match the squirrels' sideways saunter.  Such a darling character needed a name, and since this fearless little squirrel also ran the stellar jays off in pursuit of the best pickings at the feeder, I figured Nibbles was the perfect name.  Nibbles was as food motivated as Mr. Muffins.

I never quite understood what Nibbles saw in Mr. Muffins....Mr. Muffins' delight in Nibbles was easy to understand.  But day after day, Nibbles came to the feeder, and intentionally sought out Mr. Muffins.  Nibbles would look in and pat at the window if Mr. Muffins was napping and hadn't come running.

Nibbles looking for his starcrossed love, Mr. Muffins the cat

Maybe to Nibbles Mr. Muffins, in his glorious reddish brown fluffiness, looked like a giant squirrel god.  Or maybe, they just have that connection.  All I know is Nibbles is absolutely infatuated with Mr. Muffins.

 

Nibbles is even willing to wait before heading to the feeder for munchies until there is a little visit with Muffins.  He wasn't above doing Cirque du Soleil (or squirrel pole dancing) on my screen door.  Every once in a while I'd look up at the window and see him hanging upside down on the screen looking in.  There's something off about that squirrel I would tell myself.  That's probably why it's such an endearing little thing.

One day after work, I watched for Nibbles, but there was no Nibbles.  Nor the next day.  Surely by the weekend I thought.  Nope.  I peered outside and even tried calling, "Niiiibbbbllles" (as if the neighbors already didn't say "there's something off about that lady at the end of the street).  But alas, there was no Nibbles.  I started researching squirrel behavior, maybe he was hibernating.  Nope, apparently squirrels don't hibernate.  They do a thing called torrid, where they do deep sleep in the den, but not a formal hibernation.  The temps were also still too warm.  I researched if squirrels might go off a long way searching for a mate, but turns out they typically stay close to home.  5 days, 6 days went by.  I realized that by a week, I would have to accept that Nibbles was gone.  There are owls, eagles, stray cats, dogs, and a hundred ways for a squirrel to meet their demise around here.

On day 7, Saturday, Nibbles had still not been seen.  Mr. Muffins and I were equally despondent.  I sat quietly, thinking how much of a lift that little red squirrel made to my days, and to Mr. Muffins' days.  Then out of the corner of my eye, he bolted by the railing at lightning speed.  Nibbles came home!

I made sure there was an extra stock of peanuts in the bird feeder, and that Nibbles could have aaaalllll the munchies he wanted.

As cute as this little visitor has been, and as much as we joked about Nibbles becoming a house squirrel one day, he took his peanuts and stashed them in all his little woodland dens, and stopped coming with the first snow.  It's been over a week since Nibbles last stopped by.  I hope he took enough of the bird feeder rations to keep him safe and warm all winter, and hope that I see him chasing the birds on my deck in spring.  I will have to be content hearing his chattering opinions from nearby trees until he is able to make the journey back to my window and birdfeeder.

Turns out a squirrel named Peanut may influence and election and change the course of American history if one can believe the news.  And in this little corner of the world, one little squirrel named Nibbles brightened the lives of one fat cat and his owner (and a small facebook following) for a season.  Squirrel power!

Stay safe Nibbles!  

The Beginning of Toque Season

There are a few things Canada has that you are not found in the US (or at least not easily).

For chocolate bars it's Eatmore, Coffee Crisp, Cherry Blossums, mint Aero, and Mirage (plus several more that I can't think of off the top of my head).  I can't tell you how much I miss Ketchup chips and Cheezies.  There is no such thing as Shreddies cereal. and also, despite my best efforts, no puffed wheat to be found, which means no puffed wheat squares.  This has been particularly distressing to me since I reinvigorated my baking skills a few years ago.  It also took me several store trips to realize the alternative to Beehive corn syrup is a clear goo called Karo.

Every time I say the word toque in Alaska I am met with head tilts and raised eyebrows.  It seems toques are not a thing here.  I mean, they exist.  I have caught myself saying "nice toque" in an elevator and been met with utter bemusement.  Granted, that does seem like an odd thing to say now that I write it down, but I digress.  Apparently they are just called hats here, which quite honestly, is a disappointingly boring.  Wikidpedia confirms this is pretty much just a Canadian thing.  Sort of like a bunnyhug is just a Saskatchewan word for hoodie.

That said, I returned to Anchorage this week just in time for 21 inches of fresh snow this week.  And so I shall celebrate my toque and it's fuzzy warm glory with this post with a little foray into said snow.

The nice thing about first snow, it it usually hasn't turned into first ice yet.  So that was a plus for a little forest frolicking. 

It didn't escape my notice that the moss or lichen or whatever the fuzzy green stuff that grows on birch is looks like little frozen green snowflakes.  Thought that was kind of cool.

I saw evidence of my little woodpecker family.  I have to confess, the little spotted woodpeckers are one of my favorite feeder visitors.  They don't come often, but when they do, they are saucy!  And easily spooked.  They have certainly done a number on this tree though.

    

Final destination, my little sandbar by the river.  Some other residents have hauled a bench down there, and I have to admit it does make for a pretty picture and welcome spot to hang out for a bit.  And think about silly things like toques, and where they come from (France it would seem).  Fun fact, the traditional chef hat is called a toque.  And German judges wear a toque but pretty sure it looks nothing like the Canadian toque nor a chef cap.  It's nice to have time to ponder random oddities again.

Climbing Down the Corporate Ladder

 My place of employment may have been just a medium sized pond in the behemoth of a parent company...I was just a guppy in the bigger scheme of things, but I like to think I was at least one of those oversized goldfish in the pond that was ours.  

That came with the excitement of being in the thick of most of the things, knowing everyone on campus, and after almost 10 years, being one of those people that knew the reasons for why we started doing all the things that we did.  It also came with a company phone that I slept beside for 10 years.  I answered pings hiking on mountaintops, and didn't take a vacation in 10 years without the company laptop for the inevitable thing I would need to log in and help out with or complete, or check on. I didn't complain when the phone started pinging at 4am, interrupting my sleep just to see a bunch of people sending gif's to a mandatory work group from 2000 miles away.  It came with stress, and as the corporate upline team grew, so did the demands on the position, without any additional resources.  There was a gradual giving over of time.  A gradual increase in fatigue, and a turning inwards.  A preference to be home alone on days off rather than joining friends for social outings.  A chronic feeling of being tired and overwhelmed.  The busy work assigned from afar grew and grew, and some of work that supported the local team had to be sacrificed.  That brought on feelings of not being as effective, and some of that work was the work I felt was most important to the end client.

It took some thought, and introspection, and quite honestly a fresh family tragedy that left me without the reserve to tolerate one more thing.  Sometimes the universe gives you a nudge to get to where you need to be. That one more thing happened to be the latest new baby shark 2000 miles away behaving unkindly and unprofessionally on a call.  And that was that.  So I took a deep breath and started my climb down that ladder.  To be fair it was probably only a couple of rungs, but it still felt weird after years of taking on more and more responsibility.

I was nervous about how my decision would be received.  There are so many wonderful people on the local team, and with so many years, I dreaded disappointing anyone.  It was such a relief to be met with genuine appreciation for the work done and well wishes on the next phase of my career journey.

So after 2 weeks off, it's back to work on Monday.  As a smiling, anonymous little nemo, just looking to make a difference for others for 8 hours, and for once, make a difference for my own fishy self for the rest of the day.  

Keep on swimming, wherever that may be.