May 31 – “The Rescue”

Here’s a quick update on Mom.  She seems to be recovering nicely from her fall.  She definitely has that shiner, though.  She is getting around the house well enough that we are insisting she keep her walker with her at all times.  She still wants to push it aside and walk on her own, though.  Pretty stubborn lady.  Gotta love her.  She sure passed her genes on to her grandchildren.  Must have skipped me ….

I got a late start for my walk yesterday.  I didn’t get a lot of sleep because I kept having hot flashes and what felt like pin pricks all over my feet.  No, it’s not menopause.  Prednisone plus pinched nerves in the back equals no fun.  Especially at night when you are trying to sleep.  I did get up and get going, though, and as I rounded one corner I saw one of the Galveston fire fighters who lives in our neighborhood.  He was sitting on his front porch eating some breakfast and watching his dog play.  Big dog.  Scary looking.  But it didn’t take long for the tail to start wagging and I had a new friend.  We had a great neighborly kind of talk.  The fire fighter and me, not the dog.  Somewhere in between comparing notes on the neighborhood meeting we had with our city council rep and him telling me how proud he was of his girlfriend’s dean’s list accomplishments in college, a squirrel made its appearance from across the street.  Did I mention that he had a dog?  A big dog?  The dog saw the squirrel.  And the squirrel saw the dog.  And the chase began.  Didn’t last long, though.  The squirrel made it up the tree in the front yard, and the dog, though it did its best, just couldn’t quite make the climb.  As we continued our talk, another squirrel made an appearance across the street.  It was no doubt The Squirrel Rescue Squad sent on this dangerous mission to seek out the presence of his compadre and do whatever it took to rescue him from the clutches of the massive giant holding him hostage.  It didn’t take the dog long to locate the new interloper.  A sharp command from the fire fighter held the dog in position on our side of the street, but while the dog keyed on this new intruder, the original squirrel snuck out the tree and disappeared over the fence and into the back yard.  Recognizing that his job was done, the second squirrel quietly, but somewhat smugly, retreated.  The dog finally suspected something must be happening and returned to check on his treed victim.  But alas, his quarry was gone.  To his credit, the dog almost immediately traced the exact steps of the escaped trespasser.  Sadly, though, the trail ended somewhere along the roofline.  Quite a successful diversionary tactic, I must say.  Most assuredly a victory for squirreldom. 

Psalms 92:5 says, “How great are your works, O Lord, how profound your thoughts!”

Father, thank you for all of the creatures you have placed around us, human and otherwise.  They can sure be entertaining.  Amen.