New Years Eve Party

Despite the single digital temperature and negative wind chill factor, I still held my famous New Years Eve party at the Woodpile. We have fur coats, so, it wasn’t a problem. My New Years Eve parties are best known for some of the finest drinks around.  For example, I served frozen wine coolattas with sunflower garnish. I make a martini that even James Bond would find exciting. I serve mine with two olives and some Godiva Sunflower seeds.

LETS PARTY!!! 

Come Get It

[My cousin Vinnie] "This looks interesting"

"Oops, did I do that?"

"Did anyone see me?"

“Here comes Chippy, I am going to put on my best innocent face.”

Bushy decided to join the party.

Time to test my signature drink!

The Big Sip

[Chippy's wife arrives home unexpectedly and finds a mess. She looks really upset.]

[Chippy] "Maybe if I hide the wife will not find me. Can you see me?"

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Santa's Treat

Although I saved Christmas with my astro-snow invention and got on the good list, I am not taking any chances. I am leaving Santa the promised bottle of Guiness and Godiva sunflower seeds. I have cleared a wide landing strip near the Woodpile for his sleigh and placed Santa’s treats where he cant’ miss them.

Everything looks perfect. Time to go back to the burrow.

I just got a call from Bushy, some suspicious furry critter is hanging around Santa’s treats. He was trying to look inconspicuous reading the “government warning” on the back label. Who reads them?

I ran to the Woodpile and found my cousin Vinnie. I asked him what he was doing. Vinnie said, “I was just passing by.” I pointed to all of the Godiva sunflowers scattered all over the snow and to the fact he was sitting in the middle of the dish! Vinnie sheepishly replied, “umm, aah, someone needed to test the sunflower seeds to make sure they were fresh.” Oh boy, my perfect treat for Santa is wrecked. I am doomed.

Bushy’s wife saved the day. She brought some fresh baked peanut butter cookies to replace the seed Vinnie ate. Woodpile Constable Wayne said he would guard Santa’s treat against any more mischief. (I took a photo of him with his best “don’t mess with me” look … pretty convincing.)

Christmas Morning

Junior woke the wife and me up at 4:30 am.He was so excited. Santa had come! Guess what, Santa had filled his stocking full of treats! I have a few photos of Junior trying to get into his stocking.

It is hard to hold on and eat at the same time

Aren’t the kids cute at this age?!

“Head First”

 

My friend Jerry the mouse lives in Mom’s house. He just posted this photo on furbook (critter version of facebook). He decided to help himself to a gingerbread man that Mom left out on the table. He doesn’t like to see good food go to waste. Apparently he forgot its was Christmas Eve. Mom took it in the Christmas spirit, said it was her present to Jerry.

Christmas Eve Bedtime Story

“Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse” … so everyone thought … including Clement Clarke Moore author of the poem Twas the Night Before Christmas. Well, he never visited the Woodpile on Christmas Eve. The Chippy family has a long tradition of reading stories on this night.

Here I am getting the candle ready for the evening. You can’t have a traditional Christmas Eve without candle light! This is Chippy Junior’s first Christmas. I want it to be special.

Everything looks perfect and ready to go. Here comes Junior.

[Chippy Jr] Dad, come quick and see what I found!!!

[Chippy Jr.] Dad, is this a story book?

Do you want me to read the story to you Junior?

Santa's Village

I thought I would treat the whole family by taking them to Santa’s Village. This is a Chipmunk scale winter theme park for kids (as well as adults young at heart.) Usually there are all sorts of winter related activities like sledding, ice skating and my favorite ski jumping. Despite being located near the north pole, Santa’s Village had a “minor” problem: NO SNOW! This climate change problem is worse than I thought.

When we arrived there, the village manager got an emergency call from the big man himself. Apparently, Santa’s sleigh runway didn’t have snow either. The elves had no idea how to get Santa’s sleigh to take off bare ground. There was concern that Christmas was going to be cancelled. Santa wanted to know if the good folks at the theme park could come up with a solution.

Experiment #1 – I hopped in the driver seat while Santa tried to give it a big push. That didn’t work so well.

Experiment #2 – This time I tried helping Santa push the sleigh. We got it to move a few feet but it was a lot of effort.

Experiment #3 – Lets try things the old fashion way. I will pull it like a reindeer. Okay, now I know why so many reindeer are needed to pull the sleigh.

 Experiment #4 – I tried praying for a Christmas miracle

 Experiment #5 – While taking a break, I was thinking about football and how some football fields had Astroturf. Then it hit me like a snowball, we needed “astro-snow.” I conferred with the elf engineering team, and they used Santa’s industrial 3-D printer to make the astro-snow. It worked perfectly!

Santa was so amazed at how I save Christmas, he crossed me off the naughty list (phew!) He asked me what I wanted for Christmas. I said I wanted to meet a real reindeer.

Letter to Santa

I wrote a letter to Santa and ran down to the Woodpile mailbox to post it.

The mailman usually delivers and picks up the mail by 2 pm.

He is late today. It must be all of those letters to Santa he has to collect.

I am going to climb up on the mailbox for a better view. I see him coming!

Everybody is probably wondering what I asked for in my letter to Santa … and the answer is nothing.

Dear Santa,

I have been good this year, well, most of the time, okay, I admit I pulled a “few” pranks. But, I am not writing to beg you to move me from the naughty list to the good list. I have already gotten the greatest gift, discovering the true meaning of the Holidays – Family, my friends at the Woodpile, and of course my awesome super fans. I am writing to ask you to spread good cheer, the message of good will and peace to one and all.

I will leave a glass of Guiness and some Godiva sunflower seeds for you. (I imagine you get tired of milk and cookies).

Your friend,

Chippy

The Woodpile

Storing Acorns

As everyone knows, I have a sweet tooth for sunflower seeds. I can’t get enough of them. My brother-in-law, Carl, on the other hand is a bit nutty. I mean that literally. He can’t get enough acorns and other nuts. He is an acorn hoarder. He likes to spend all his time with squirrels rather than his fellow chipmunks. Does anyone of remember that old Dunkin Donuts commercial “Time to make the donuts”? Carl sets his alarm clock for the crack of dawn and is out gathering acorns at first light. He can stuff an acorn in each cheek pouch and one in his mouth (three all total). He has some stiff competition from the squirrel union. He keeps a sundial by his burrow entrance and has a self-imposed quota of 30 acorns an hour. There are rumors that his underground warehouse is the size of football field.

“Storing Acorns 101”

Starting in Morning

Popping up to see if it is safe to go out acorn hunting

Checking the time on the sundial while having a breakfast snack

Step 1 – Preparing the Acorn for Transport

Pop the cap off the acorn

Stuff it in your cheek (One in each cheek & one in the mouth – 3 all total)

Step 2 – Transporting to Warehouse

Sprint to the warehouse tunnel

Dive in head first

Annual Thanksgiving Football Game

The annual Thanksgiving Day Football game between the Woodpile and Watertown has been a rivalry going on for 25 years. It’s the biggest sporting event of the year. The Woodpile “Claws” have had a terrific season so far. They are 5-0. They are facing the Watertown “Pirates” who also have 5-0 record. We had a “minor” scandal about a week ago. The entire “Claws” team was suspended for one game for eating genetically modified sunflower seeds (oops). We were in real danger of forfeiting the Thanksgiving Day game! Thankfully, Chippy stepped in and organized a new team. They only had a week to practice. So, that’s why you got me, Bushy the squirrel, reporting on the game instead of Chippy. (Squirrels aren’t allowed to play. Something about an unfair size advantage).

Not much to report from the first half, it was scoreless. The problem was the grass was six inches tall and nobody could see the passes. (It wouldn’t be a problem if you let us squirrels play). Both defenses made the running game tough to gain any yardage. The Claws made up for their lack of skill and experience in their run defense by sheer determination … I just got word in the press box that apparently the groundskeeper is on vacation visiting relatives in sunny Florida and forgot to mow the field before he left. The officials conferenced at half-time and they asked Mom to use her scissors to trim the grass. The fans are fired up now that they can actually see their teams play.

In the third quarter, the Pirates scored three touchdowns in a row. The Claws had no clue how to cover the Pirate’s all-star receivers. The only good news was they missed the point after on the third touchdown. Score was 0-20. In the 4^th quarter, the Claws were receiving the kick, Chippy yells out “Free beer on the sideline” and the Pirates ran off the field, we score a touchdown on the kick return. I don’t think they will fall for that trick a second time. The Pirates got the ball back on at their 20 yard line on the next play. Chippy pointed to the Pirates quarterback and told #43 nicknamed the “Bulldozer” and told him to knock him on his [bleep]. Then he asked Jerry, a track star to follow the bulldozer and grab the ball and RUN to the end zone. Bulldozer plowed through the front line, chipmunks went flying evey which direction, and the Pirate’s quarterback never knew what hit him. Jerry snatched the fumbled ball for a touchdown! Score 14-20.

What follows is some highlight photos of the last drive of the game

With one minute left to play, the Claws got the ball back at the 25. The quarterback got sacked on the 3^rd down and is out with a broken paw. Chippy steps in as the backup quarterback. Facing a 4^th and 10, Chippy threw a bullet of a pass …

#87 makes a diving catching at the 50 yard line. Wow, what a play to keep the game alive! The Claws take a timeout to stop the clock at 10 seconds.

With 10 seconds left on the clock there is only time left for one more play.  … Chippy waits for the receivers to get down field, and throws a Hail Mary pass.

Hiding in the grass in the end zone unnoticed, #87 waits to jump up to catch the ball.

“Unbelievable, He caught it, TOUCHDOWN!!! …. The extra point is good … the Claws win the game!” … “The Claw fans are going wild and celebrating in the stands!”

 I almost forget to mention, this is the first time the Woodpile has ever won the Thanksgiving Day game.

Playtime in the Leaves

The students at the Woodpile Elementary School have a lot of energy. Like human kids, they need to burn some of it off at recess time. You will find a lot of activities and games the young chipmunk like very familiar. I am sure you all remember doing the same thing when you were their age. Enjoy the trip down memory lane.

A perennial favorite is the swing. We have an awesome tire swing at the Woodpile. (I have even caught a few adults trying it out when they thought no one was looking).

“How does this work?”

“Swinging is so much fun, you got to try it.”

Hide & Seek

Another favorite is the classic “Hide & Seek” game. Fall is the perfect time to play. The piles of fallen leaves make perfect places to hide. If you haven’t noticed, chipmunk’s fur matches the color of the leaves. Chipmunks have great eyesight and even better hearing. This presents a unique challenge for the game. The “seeker” can hear the rustle of leaves, claws climbing up a tree, and so forth. We have found a solution! We have a hollowed out stump that the seeker sticks his/her head into while counting. It is sound proof!

 

“You want me to stick my head where?”

 

“1, 2, 3 …” Chippy Jr. is counting to fifty while the other kids hide. (No he isn’t stuck).

“I wonder if I can hide inside the tire swing?” – (some kids have a lot to learn still.)

The Art of Hiding in The Leaves

“Can you see me now?”

“The art of camouflage”

“READY OR NOT, HERE I COME”

“Are they hiding in here?”

This is hard work trying to find where all the kids are hiding. It is time for a rest.”

“I win, you didn’t find me!”

Check out this short 1 1/4 minute video