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Chipmunk Envy
When stuffing your face is a positive thing
In another life, I have often believed I have been, or will be, a wild mustang, a playful otter, or an elegant gazelle. But now I have a new creature I would like to emulate, if only I could. A chipmunk.
As I write this, winter is imminent in New England. The days are short. The nights are long. The temperature has dropped. Frost has arrived, and the snow will soon follow.
As ever in the winter, I fight the urge to curl up and nap all through the day. Equally pressing is the desire to feast and snack, feast and snack, every waking moment.
The thought of hibernating at some point in early November, once most of the leaves have dropped and the first hard frost has withered the garden, seems so very appealing.
Yet the world of people is too complex, too dependent on restless ambition, eternal activity, and the mysterious “supply chain” we all seem to be worried about these days to ever allow for the mass hibernation of homo sapiens each year.
What other alternatives are there? How about following the chipmunk model of winter survival?
In the chipmunk world, planning is everything and torpor is king. Snug in their dens, curled up head to toe in their warm fur coats, chipmunks may well be the…