The Return of the Squirrel

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by Arundhati Basu

I can feel the march of spring. Could be a flash in the pan though. Smoky blue days making way for sunny ones replete with the network of bare branches and portly natives returning to scrounge nuts. But then there are hardly any, so with bushy tails fanning above their backs they scamper right up to you and rear upon their minuscule hind legs just like the comical meerkats you cooed over in Dartmoor.

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Arundhati Basu

The great affair in my life is to travel. I count myself immensely fortunate that my partner shares this passion. We are a team that likes to spend time planning and plotting out places to go. Destination check, flights check, accommodation check, cheesy grins check. Off we go.

54 thoughts on “The Return of the Squirrel”

      1. You would have a squirrel friend for life if you doled out such a nut feast. And soon maybe a squirrel colony once the news spread–I am thinking it is good your pockets were not filled with pecans that day 😉

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  2. Looking at your photos of the squirrel reminds me of Beatrix Potter’s story of Squirrel Nutkin. Hopefully this squirrel will keep away from owls and be able to keep its tail 😉

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    1. I am willing to keep all owls at home for their sake 😉 And then they can imprint on us and we would have quite a unique family. I love Potter too and funny that you mention Squirrel Nutkin because just the other day we were watching a show called Escape to the Country, set in the English countryside, and I was charmed by the army of red squirrels this photographer feeds daily. A random thought really 🙂

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      1. The first book I read as a child by Potter was Squirrel Nutkin not the popular Peter Rabbit. I loved seeing the lovely illustrations especially of the squirrels fishing in the river. Didn’t know they could do that! 😉 Escape to the Country sounds like a wonderful show – an army of red squirrels sounds great! Their leader could be Captain Cupcake 😛

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      2. You are right, Squirrel Nutkin is not a celebrity like Peter Rabbit 🙂 Cuptain Cupcake is all set to take on this mantle of leading an army of greedy little red squirrels. But then I will have to eschew the company of the greys because they are supposed to be toxic for the red squirrels!

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  4. Dear Dippy-Dotty Girl,
    may I be allowed to criticise your post?
    I really like the graphics, especially of your first photographs and the colour management as well. The first 3 pictures make me stop and have a longer look. They are great! Oh dear, and now the but – but these 3 pictures are enough. The rest of the pictures destroy the impact of the first three brilliant pictures. That’s a pity.
    I hope writing my ideas about your picture presentation was helpful.
    With warm greetings from the cold sea
    Klausbernd
    Greetings from the rest of The Fab Four

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    1. Funny that you mention it, Klausbernd. I did think of it you know. To me the dreaminess of the first three was surreal (even though the word runs the risk of being declared stale). The contrast is jarring, I agree. But it is also the contrast I am living at the moment.
      And you are always allowed to criticise — it is the way forward. Hope you have a pot of tea to enjoy the view of the cold sea with. Cheers.

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  14. You have no idea how much I needed those squirrels …. adorable! Our parks have been hijacked for the 50th Anniversary of the 1968 Winter Olympics and it has been hard to walk unperturbed which means my squirrel count has been low lately. I must also remark that your shots of the water and bridge are beyond atmospheric … Really worthy of wall-art! Smiles and hugs from France and I’ll be checking on l’écureuils later in the week to see how they have fared with all the rude disturbance to their lives. Xx

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    1. That makes me smile — the 50th anniversary celebration of the 1968 Winter Olympics. Must be quite the jamboree.
      Thank you Osyth, since I am not an artist, I shall have to make do with the camera 🙂 As for l’écureuils, I send them empathies and hugs (how precocious of me to assume that they are huggy beings!) from their chubby little counterparts in Bayonne. xx

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      1. It is …. though slightly formless if I’m honest ? the squirrels need all the solidarity they can get and I’m sure a few kindred hugs are welcome xx

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  17. Oh my gosh, that squirrel almost fades into the background! It’s like she is wearing her February-shade coat just for you, Dippy-Dotty Girl! Brr! Here in the Pacific Northwest we’re getting a huge cold-snap, I can totally relate to your bare and snow-branch photos. It snowed last night and it’s icy this morning, in the 30s – when usually we’re getting rain and 40-degree weather! Aurgh! 🙂 Thanks for the fun photos. Great hearing from you! xx

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  23. First of all, the feature image is stunning! Just stunning! ❤ …and Look at the cheeky little fluff..they are such clever creatures! I am always looking to stroke the squirrels when they come near us in the park to get their share of our picnic treats but hubs keeps warning me that one of these day, I will get my fingers chewed off by them! *graphic image…sorry* I can't help it…too much of leftover chip 'n dale mania lurking in my brain! 😀 I am so ready for some sunshine….We had a bizarre week here in Dublin. Where we have almost no snow ever throughout the year in our corner of the world, these past days, 'the beast from the east' (that what the locals are calling the snow storm) has given us more than we asked for. Everything came to a standstill and we have been in a house-arrest for 4 days now. Snow snow go away..come again another day! 😉 Lovely post as always! xx

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  24. That does sound ominous. I hope you are well stocked with food and drinks. It must feel awful to be trapped inside. By now you must be ready to get into the great outdoors! Don’t worry and hold on. We have been watching BBC and wondering about this odd phenomenon. I read about it yesterday in a piece in the NYT that linked this to the beast called climate change. Apparently the polar vortex which rests over the Arctic and traps the frigid air there has been disturbed. Hence this craziness. And get this, apparently the arctic is getting balmy weather!
    Yeah it is better not to feed those cheeky cuties even though I just noticed from my window that this old man, who is one of the regular runners in the park, sprinkled some nuts for them. I think it just messes with their natural way of scrounging. But then I guess we do what we do. I think you are safe from getting your fingers chewed off by them, unless we enter a parallel realm where squirrels feast on steaks and lions eat nuts 😀 xx

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