Happy Monday  ~  214

Yes it is my little friend the squirrel again today.  I know I’ve shown images of this little guy before and you can only show so many sides to a squirrel but I just love watching him and capturing his image. 

Perhaps the reason I do is because of a story about my Dad and his squirrel “Rocky.”  I’ve talked about my Dad on this blog before.  He was faced with many physical challenges but carried on with little or no complaining.

After his retirement he would enjoy sitting in the back yard of their home in Bethany, Missouri and just enjoy the sights and sounds of the nature around them.  They lived on the outskirts of Bethany so there was a fair amount of wildlife that would wander though their property.

Dad saw a squirrel in one of their trees several times during a given day and he would call it.  He started carrying a cookie in his shirt pocket when he went outside and he would put a small chunk of the cookie on the picnic table and call the squirrel. 

One day to his delight the squirrel finally came down the tree and jumped up on the table, grabbed the cookie and ran back up the tree.  Fast forward now several months and “Rocky” would now come  down to where Dad was sitting and get the cookie out of his shirt pocket and sit there and eat it before going back up the tree.
I have a picture (11 X 14) in my home office of Rocky sitting on a tree branch eating his oatmeal cookie.  Jeanne actually took a picture with my 35 mm film camera of Rocky climbing up my pant leg to get a cookie I held in my hand.  I was standing at the time and his little claws hurt some but it was an amazing thing to see. 

If you looked at Rocky real close you could tell that he was blind in one eye.  He and my Dad had a wonderful relationship and Dad enjoyed him immensely.  I gave him a copy of the cookie in the tree image.  🙂

So every time I see this little guy he reminds me of my Dad and that brings joy to my heart. 

Kind of a rough weekend health wise.   I’m learning what I can’t eat and two of them are some of my favorites.  I can’t eat oatmeal or Cheerios.  Damn.  They must give me a terrible spike in my blood sugar because it puts me down pretty good.

I was out of commission for most of Saturday morning but after lunch I got back on track and did a 30 mile bike ride.  Yesterday I had Cheerios with about the same result.  I got to feeling better around 2:00 pm and then Jeanne and I went for a 30 minute walk.  It is a learning process for sure.

That’s if for today.  I hope you enjoy your day.  Thanks for stopping by and be careful.