I read this in the New York Times Book review recently: A children’s guide from 1995 called “My hobby is birdwatching” concludes: “Whenever time hangs heavy on your hands, you can watch the birds.”
I watch birds a lot, but I also watch squirrels. Here is the squirrel feeder outside the window of the office I share with my sweetie, Marion Krefeldt. On the feeder is Rocky the non-flying squirrel, a gift from David Y. Hancock, Therese Miller, and other of my colleagues. And next to Rocky is a real live squirrel – one of many who visit regularly. I get a lot of Bluejays when I put peanuts out. When it is warm enough for the chipmunks to be out and about they visit as well. But there are always very beautiful fox squirrels (Sciurus niger) to be seen, and they warm my heart. Of course, this squirrel feeder provides me an excuse any time I write a sentence that just
