Fred's Ramblings

Earlier today, I noticed a squirrel in my back yard munching on a piece of food (couldn’t see what it was) and he was oblivious to anyone around him. My cat was sleeping not 5 feet away from him but it didn’t seem to bother him at all. Not to mention that this particular squirrel isn’t afraid of humans either…he has been know to charge at people.

It reminded me of the squirrel that my father kept after he took him home since he had fallen out of the tree as a baby. My mother and everyone around him told him that he is wild animal and should be let back into the wild. My father kept insisting that he would do so as soon as he felt he was able to take care of himself. Of course, the longer he kept him, the less likely he would be able to take care of himself.

Long story short, my father kept that squirrel for 10 years and died right after my father had a stroke and couldn’t take care of him. I built up a dislike for that squirrel because in my mind, my father did not come visit me (across the country) as often as I would have liked because he kept insisting that he had no one to take care of that squirrel. He took better care of that squirrel than he took care of his own wife. Granted, my father hated anyone that mistreated an animal, and he at least passed that on to me, but the way he coddled that squirrel was way over the top. It’s funny how something happening today can trigger a memory of previous years.