I was sitting reading on the front porch swing just after 5:00 p.m. this evening. It has been a gorgeous day all day and it’s a perfect temperature outside.
Suddenly movement from the corner of my eye caught my attention. A chipmunk came around from the corner of the
intent chipmunk Matthew Shelton
house going to the front sidewalk and immediately found an acorn to eat. It sat up and manipulated the nut quickly and dexterously with its little paws. You could hear the nut fragments hitting the ground as it manipulated it’s paws until it was all gone.
Then the chipmunk began searching some more, zigzagging in smooth searching spurts. He/she came within 3 ft or less of me more than once, even coming up onto the front porch itself. I stayed still, moving only my eyes, because I wanted to observe this beautiful creature as long as possible.
It’s body was tawny, brown and long, and even seemed to elongate further when it stopped and changed direction. At one point it lifted its left rear leg and briefly scratched, just like a dog would. Its tail I can only describe as “flirty” as it snapped back and forth. I was struck by how similar it seemed to those in the old Disney cartoons.
Beautifully striped, it wasn’t just cute – it was intent. Intent on finding more food.
When there was no more to be found on this sidewalk it moved on into the bushes and you could see the bushes sway a tiny bit as it made its way further, searching, searching.
Hope you’re having a good day, little one. So glad you found one of what you were searching for, right in front of me. Thank you for that moment.
ps: in honor of the annular solar eclipse visible in some parts of Western US and other parts of the world, I’ve included an image of a “cosmic” chipmunk.