I’ve been thinking about squirrels a lot recently. Working in the middle of a park, as I do, my awareness of them is at an all-time high.
I see them everyday, doing that thing they do – fevered activity and then momentary motionlessness – like they’re playing musical statues but only they can hear the music.
At first I didn’t see it, but after a few days I started to get a strong sense that I was seeing the same squirrels in exactly the same locations as the previous day. The same key positions always occupied by the same little faces, avidly munching, if I’m not very much mistaken, the very same ‘nuts’ (perhaps not even nuts – I don’t claim to be an expert).
Just the occasional deviation, the odd change of stance might have thrown me off the scent – but I fear the squirrels have got a little sloppy.
I’ve just been out for a circuit now for my lunchbreak. I walked down the usual path and there they were insulting my intelligence with their pretence. As I walked on I spun around to try and see what they got up to once I passed. I’m not sure what I expected, maybe a couple of them lugging a big radio transmitter across the path, whilst the others did stretching and flexing exercises. Anyway – I’d underestimated them – they were there inscrutably nibbling.
Now I’m not sure….
Hmmm. You may be on to something. I will mail this blog to all of my friends and see what they think.
You know too much.
is it elaborate video art?were you employed as part of some elaborate plan to humiliate you?is the video being streamed in the lobby of the mac?
I walk in the park every day. There are many regulars. There is a woman who drags tyres: she is in training. There is a man who throws a ball on a string to himself: he is his own dog. There are geese.And then there are the squirrels. They pretend to eat nuts. They chew and turn the nut and chew and turn and chew and turn. But have you noticed? The nut never gets any smaller. The nut stays the same size though they chew and turn constantly. Have you noticed that? I stand still by the edge of the bushes, and I listen. I can hear them moving about. What are they doing?
Park security is our game, actually. Many an untrained civilian has mistaken Red Squadron 4 for mere cute furry wildlife when in actual fact RS4 are keeping a careful watch on specified targets. The nut will never diminish in size as it houses an advanced communication system, vital in the fight against park crime.