Vacation Part 2

Once we were certain that we weren’t going to die we were able to settle down and enjoy our place. The climate was like nothing I had experienced in my Midwest/East Coast living. Technically, it was a rainforest. Everything outside was constantly damp although it didn’t really rain a lot at all. It would mist or even lightly drizzle for 5-10 minute time spans here and there. I think once it really came down for about two or three minutes. It was pretty cool. The fact that the hot tub was under a gazebo didn’t hurt either cause that meant none of that drizzle got in the way of our relaxing.

I spent a good portion of the first morning/afternoon in the yard trying to hone my badminton skills so that I could destroy Tony when he woke up. Although I played badminton in high school I hadn’t picked up a racket since. I had certainly lost some skills. It didn’t matter, though, although Tony was totally into the game he didn’t have much of a chance against me. If we both practiced he would probably surpass me relatively quickly. He has a large height/reach advantage over me. I also spent some time communing with nature.

We had expected to see tons of wildlife while out in the woods, not so much. We saw a few raccoons while driving lost and contemplating death. On the property itself there were some birds, many slugs, and one absolutely adorable squirrel. It was with this squirrel that I spent a lot of time. I spotted him through the window going up into a little squirrel house. He would dart in, grab a sunflower seed, and dart out again to a stump. He went back and forth, back and forth, for a good 20 minutes before I decided to go out and take a closer look. The squirrels I am accustomed to are city squirrels; big fat gray creatures that, while cute, are nothing to write home about. This little guy was about the size of a chipmunk and had an adorable reddish tummy. His little tail curled about him ever so preciously. I was hooked.

I went outside and started taking pictures, after about 30 attempts I got this one of him on the ledge of his home. I have many of him scampering down the pole, half in the house, or nowhere to be seen in the frame. He was a fast little guy. I then took pictures of him by his stump home. He was quite friendly and let me get close enough to snap this gem. However, it was when he was perched atop the stump looking down at me when he first chirped. I was astonished. Big city squirrels do not make noise. Certainly not noise that sounds like a bird’s song. I thought it might have been a bird but as he chirped his tail gave a twitch. It was awesome. He might be my favorite thing I saw on the whole trip. Tony almost didn’t believe me about the chirping but was able to see/hear him the next morning so I didn’t appear crazy.

We spent the rest of the night grilling, playing board games, watching movies, hot tubbing, and just having a good time. We were able to take our time leaving in the morning and headed off to cabin number two. I could certainly see us going back to this place someday.