Just a Squirrel

Squirrels make very good models. They are playful, natural, spontaneous, funny and the truth is, they love posing. They are also very successful in getting my attention. I often stop on my walks both to watch and photograph these furry creatures running around, chasing each other, or suddenly popping up out of nowehere and surveilling the area. Many times when watching them, I smile and I can’t help it but imagine that they talk to each other in funny voices, a little bit like Alvin, Simon and Theodore from Alvin And the Chipmunks.

Today was no exception. The squirrels were doing their thing and I was doing mine: photographing them.

Suddenly I hear a passing by couple talking behind my back.

He: What do you think she is looking at?

She (sounding very disappointed): Meh, just a squirrel.

And they walk away.

A couple of minutes later, about a 5-year-old girl comes running my direction while pulling her mother’s hand.

The child cannot contain her excitement: Ooh, a squirrel!!!

And then she whispers: Psst. Let’s watch her a bit, Mom.

“Children are born naturalists. They explore the world with all of their senses, experiment in the environment, and communicate their discoveries to those around them.” — The Audubon Nature Preschool

“As a child, one has that magical capacity to move among the many eras of the earth; to see the land as an animal does; to experience the sky from the perspective of a flower or a bee; to feel the earth quiver and breathe beneath us; to know a hundred different smells of mud and listen unself-consciously to the soughing of the trees.” — Valerie Andrews, A Passion for this Earth