Trick-or-Treat at the Woodpile

The Woodpile hosted a Halloween party. Many of my neighbors and cousins showed up. Someone played a trick on us. All of the party treats were in a black bowl guarded by a scary green monster hand.

My Cousin Vinnie claimed he wasn’t scared of anything … until he got too close.

 My neighbor Freddie thought he could do better.He peaked over the edge of the bowl was scared out of his wits. It will weeks before he recovers.

 

I guess I will have to show everyone how this is done. You need to sneak up unseen.

Success! Now, how many sunflower treats can I stuff in my cheeks?

Bushy the squirrel's here. I had to take over the rest of this story. Chippy took more than his fair share of the treats. This angered the green monster. And it was “bye bye Chippy.”

Chippy gets into the true spirit of Halloween and helps to hand out treats

Witches Night Out

I am testing some brooms to see which one I want to fly for Halloween night.

This one flies like a Boeing 747. It is not very sporty or fast.

Ah this more my size!

 

Fast sleek maneuverable, perfect. I am good at flying brooms. I'll try out for the Chipmunk Quiditch team. Time to return to the “broom closet” and close the deal. There is the runway ahead.

Whoa … who put that pumpkin on the runway. Brace for impact!

Casting Call

The gnome in the well known Travelocity commercials fell out of his lounge chair and broke his leg. The studio held an open casting call at the woodpile. They were looking for a new star for their commercials.

Here are some exclusive photos from the casting call.

Don’t chipmunks look cuter than gnomes?

Here is my next door neighbor’s daughter posing for a shot.

The Director’s response was “Next please”

Mom didn’t like the director’s decision … “What do you mean my daughter didn’t make the cut!!!!

(I wouldn’t mess with her!)

I thought I would give it a try too. Don’t I look cute with my curly tail?

This is a photo of the casting director. He never smiles.

Selfie

Look at this antique film camera I bought. It is older than my great-great-grandfather. It has a mechanical shutter, manual focus lens, and you have to advance to the next frame by pulling a lever. I have been reading up on how to manually set the shutter speed, aperture, and ISO. No computer chip to do all those calculations for you. By the way, you can’t Photoshop these pictures. You need to get the lighting and composition right the first time around. This is the true but lost “art of photography.” I discovered it has a self-timer and decided to get this selfie.

Pressing the shutter release button (nothing happens)

I seem to be experiencing some technical difficulties

Oops! This was my first attempt at a selfie.

I need to adjust the focus on the lens

Lets try this again. Time to set the timer.

“Smile for the selfie!”

Chippy’s Day Job

I keep getting questions from my fan club asking if I have a real job, or if I goof off all day. I forget most of my fans are of the two legged species and they read the “New York Times” instead of the “Woodpile Times” which is the national newspaper of the four legged world. If you ever find a copy of the “Woodpile Times” you will see my name at the top of masthead, “Chippy, Editor-in-Chief.” Okay I admit it, I have a desk job. The secret is out, there goes my reputation.

This is the editor’s desk. It has great views of the woodpile. Do you know how hard it is to find chipmunk size office supplies? Stapler, tape dispenser, calendar, and pencils?

I am big fan of all the new digital gadgets but when it comes to running the newspaper, I much prefer a pencil and pad of yellow paper. Yes, it is a bit old fashion.

Chippy Jr.’s school is doing a lesson on career choices. Junior is spending the day with me at the office learning about journalism.

My 10 o’clock appointment has arrived. He is a fresh out college journalist who thinks he knows everything there is to know about writing. I just told him I am rejecting his column. Here his is reaction: “WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU WON’T RUN MY COLUMN?”

I have had to install security cameras in office. No, not because of the irate journalists whose columns get rejected. Someone has been stealing my snacks. I caught the culprit on camera. It turns out it is Paul from accounting. He gave me some excuse that sunflower seeds are not office supplies and he had confiscate them. Sunflower seeds are essentially to day-to-day operations, what planet does he come from? We even get a discount on our health plan for supplying healthy snacks.

No office is complete without the proverbial “water cooler.”