Playing with Christmas Toys

I have discovered one universal truth in this world: boys whether they have four legs or two, paws or hands love to play with toy trucks and tractors. It certainly makes Christmas shopping really easy. They can spend hours working on their imaginary construction projects. Of course it helps when your den is dirt and they can dig all they want and not upset their mother. I never have to listen to complaints about the kids tracking mud in.

There are two companies that specialize in making chipmunk size children’s toys: Matchbox and Hot Wheels. You thought all these years that they were manufacturing these toys for human boys. They were originally designed for the chipmunk market. In fact, some of the wealthiest chipmunk families in the country are still majority stockholders

Bushy’s son Sam drops by to play with Chippy Jr.

Shy Flyboy

 It is not often we get an unusual visitor at the Woodpile. This strange fellow showed up a few weeks ago. I asked around and it seems he bought a ski lodge condo at the Woodpile. When I talked to him, he seemed shy and had a bad case of “jet lag.” He said he was more of a night critter than a day critter. He claimed he "flew in from Hopkinton, Rhode Island" and he is a commercial glider pilot these days. I have heard some tall tales but this was a bit too “tall” even for me.

I bet most of you have no idea what type of critter this is. I must admit neither did I. So, I asked Mom and she looked it up in her Peterson guides … apparently he is a northern flying squirrel. My reaction was “a flying what???” I must have drank too many beers last night.

One of my super fans, Tom, lives in Hopkinton. I emailed him to ask if he knew this guy. This is what he had to say:

“YES!  That is “Packer”!  He used to play semi pro football up in Green Bay before he hurt his elbow trying to stuff 50 whole walnuts in his cheeks on some foolish macho bet. Keep him around for next year’s football game

 Yes, he can drain a feeder, but he will be sticking around with you and Mom, cause you have corn, and out in the MidWest, where Packer got his nickname, everyone is fueled by corn, even skinny Orville Redenbacher, and even the cars

 Long distance glides are his specialty. His extra ballast, and his rounded shape give him an aerodynamic boost, plus stability in cross wind gusts and air pockets. If you get real close, you can see where he has teeth with a gap, just like Vince Lombardi! He was reminiscing about playing on the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field, and once he wore his old football jersey. His number was 0.005, but the guys just called him Dot to save time. Soon enough, that was what the TV and Radio guys were calling him when doing play by play over the networks.”

I have to go, time to recruit Packer for the Woodpile football team.

On Nettie's Pond

In past years I ventured out from the den to engage in dare devil winter sports. But now that I have kids I been told I have “responsibilities” (whatever that means) by the wife. Just like human kids, chipmunk kids get a Christmas break from school. Junior had too much time on his paws and ate too much candy … he was literally flying off the walls of the den (see photo below). Mom told me about this great book “On Nettie’s Pond: Poetry with Photos and Facts about Pond Life” by Annette Bérubé. I thought it would be great to expand Junior’s horizons beyond life at the Woodpile (and keep him occupied). Through the book, he got to meet Hector the Great Blue Heron, Tilly the Turtle, and other friends. He learned a bunch of fun facts (some of which even I didn’t know).  The poetry is delightful and helped Junior remember what he learned. There is even a quiz at the end to test your knowledge.

Ordering information can be found at author Annette Bérubé’s facebook page https://www.facebook.com/AnnetteBerubeCreativeExpressions/?nr

Junior discovers more Christmas candy …

After eating too much candy, Jr. is flying off the walls of the den

[Junior] What’s this Daddy?

[Chippy] It is a book about the all creatures that live in and around the pond.

Do you want me to read it to you?

Thank you

This is my 60^th blog posting. Bet, you never thought I would get this far! I started the blog the day after Christmas a little more than a year ago. It is hard to imagine. While Bushy the Squirrel and my feathered friends have been enduring single digit temperatures and negative wind chills, I have been very snug in my den working on 2018 blog posts. The many months I spent stockpiling sunflower seeds is really paying off. (Although the wife says I putting on a few ounces do to lack of exercise.)

I wanted to thank all my friends and loyal blog followers for faithfully reading my weekly posts. I promise there are more to come. Special shout out to super Chippy fan, Karen for all of the fun props she supplied for our photo shoots.

I put together a thank you basket for all of my fans.

I spent days collecting acorns to fill the basket

 I even practiced my football throwing skills.

Oops, how did that photo get in there? Okay, I had to sample a few and make sure they were top quality.

 UPDATE: If you went to pickup your gift basket bring a shovel. The last I heard it was buried under a six foot snow drift.