Squirrels Just Wanna Have Fun

Happy Friday! Happy weekend! Oy! It is still so hot here in NC! I would have preferred to just stay inside in the nice air conditioning all week, but when one of my friends needs my help, I am always at the ready. Dear little Bobbi has been such a good friend to me, I couldn’t say no when she asked me to help her out.
It seems that when I would be out on the deck tippy tapping on Facebook, Bobbi would jump on the computer anytime I went inside to procure a cold beverage. She had searched and searched and had finally found some squirrels who had their own Facebook pages. There was one squirrel in particular who was smart and witty and made her smile - Skippy. She used my account in the begininning to chat which probably confused the other squirrel. Why was a cat being so friendly to a squirrel? It wasn’t too long before Bobbi revealed her true identity. Bobbi told her new friend that cats and squirrels can be friends – it just takes a very special cat and a very special squirrel. She told him about her life and her friends and all the crazy things we had done. Even though Skippy lived in Maryland, Bobbi got up the nerve to invite him to visit her. Much to her surprise, he accepted her invitation! She was so excited!!! I was so excited!!!! We were all excited!!!!!
Bobbi’s excitement soon turned into panic. He was a refined squirrel from up north and she was a simple southern gal. Would he be bored by her? She had the scar on her nose and half a tail – would he make fun of her? I told her not to worry – the creatures worth knowing are the ones who don’t care about appearances. I told her she was beautiful and shouldn’t worry about it.
She was also worried about having to plan meals and things for them to do. Since he was only going to be in town for a couple of days, I told her it wouldn’t be that hard. Surely, we could think up enough things to do to keep them busy. Bobbi asked if I would work my magic and plan a dinner for just the two of them. I told her I would do my best to prepare a wonderful meal for her and her friend, but I couldn’t guaranty that it would be just the two of them. If word got out that food was being served, there’s no telling how many critters were going to wind up in the yard!
I put a calendar in the back yard and we counted down the days to Skippy’s arrival. He was going to hop on an Amtrak train and my brother was going to drive down to the Fayetteville train station to pick him up. As each day passed, poor Bobbi became more excited/nervous. She asked me to help her pick out the perfect hat to wear during Skippy’s stay. Bobbi helped me plan the menu, but I kept some of the plans secret.
The day of Skippy’s arrival final dawned. Tristan headed to the train station to pick up our esteemed visitor and I helped Bobbi brush and fluff her tail. Mom let us borrow her hair dryer to get extra poof in Bobbi’s abbreviated tail.




We positioned a lovely summer hat just so on Bobbi’s little furry head and she was ready to do us southern ladies proud!
When Tristan and his passenger pulled up the driveway I thought Bobbi was going to pass out. I had to push her toward the car so she could welcome him. When he stepped from the car, even I was impressed. Wow! Now that was a sharp squirrel. He had the perfect hat and cool shades – quite the sophisticate!! Bobbi timidly walked up to him and giggled when he presented her with a beautiful single red rose. I don’t think I’ve seen Bobbi blush so much!





Bobbi said she wanted to show Skippy around the neighborhood so he could see where she lived. They would be back in a couple of hours for dinner. I winked at her and told her that I would have dinner waiting for them when they returned.
As the new friends went off into the trees, I rushed to the kitchen to prepare dinner. Bobbi had found out that Skippy loved chunky peanut butter. That was easy – I could do that! I had recruited some of my friends to go to the grocery store with me the day before, so I had stocked up on everything I needed using Mom’s magic plastic card.
Since Bobbi wanted to seem sophisticated, I did the most sophisticated thing I know – I cut the crust off the bread on which I was going to dollop the chunky peanut butter. As I have said before, nothing oozes refinement like crustless bread. I also prepared some lovely chunky peanut butter on wheat crackers. Finally, there was a lovely assortment of nuts. I was sure Skippy was going to enjoy this feast!
Bobbi and Skippy came back a little early, but I was ready anyway. I showed them to their table on the deck. I scurried inside and returned with two fluted champagne glasses. Cali followed me out with the champagne and a bucket with ice to keep the bubbly cold. Bobbi was so surprised and Skippy seemed pleased when he saw the Dom Perignon label. I popped the cork carefully and filled their glasses. They made a toast to good friends and took a big sip of the champagne. Bobbi laughed when the bubbles tickled her nose. Skippy and Bobbi just talked and talked as they sipped their champagne and feasted on the assorted nutty foods.




I think the pop of the champagne cork drew attention from the others in the neighborhood. One by one, my friends appeared at the end of the deck. I told them that Bobbi wanted to have a private meal- besides the fact that the food was nothing in which they would be interested. Still, they sat and watched. They wanted to see what a northern squirrel looked like. Needless to say, they were disappointed that he looked just like a southern squirrel!
After dinner the two very full squirrels wanted to stand and stretch their legs. They leaned on the deck rail and continued to chat and sip champagne. They didn’t notice that I had brought a keyboard out onto the deck until I started playing. Just as I was getting into the groove, Corny came swooping down out of the sky. He was on his way home from work and noticed the crowd.
I whispered to him to please behave and not embarrass Bobbi. He gave me the “Who me?” look and asked if they would like him to sing a song. A pained looking Bobbi asked Skippy if he minded, and being the gentleman that he is, Skippy said he would be honored.
No one was more surprised than me when Corny started singing!




He had a gravely kind of voice which was perfect for the song he chose – “What a Wonderful World.” Louis Armstrong would have been proud. When he finished there was not a dry eye in the yard. We all stood and applauded. Corny took a big bow and cackled with glee. Just when I started feeling bad for asking Corny to behave, he screeched “Knock! Knock!” “Who’s there?” Skippy shouted. Skippy seemed to be a knock, knock joke fan - guess he hadn’t heard Corny’s knock , knock jokes! “Doughnut,” Corny replied. “Doughnut who?” we all chimed in together. “Doughnut waste any of that fine champagne!” Oh, Corny just thought that was so funny. Us – not so much. He went flying off into the sunset just laughing away.
I invited the others hovering at the end of the deck to come and join us at the keyboard. We spent the rest of the night having a great time singing songs and laughing. There was enough champagne for all of us to have some – which only added to the silliness.
Skippy fit perfectly into our little menagerie, and we were sorry when he had to head back home. We promised him next time he visited we would all go on an adventure. He liked that idea. He hugged us all goodbye and Tristan drove him back to the train station. Bobbi was sad to see him go, but she was very excited that he had invited her to come visit him in Maryland. She was so happy – Skippy had told her she was beautiful inside and out. Skippy was a very special squirrel!
Hope you have a great weekend. Go out and make a new friend. You never know what special people are out there waiting for you!

Love & licks,
Josie