A Sea Adventure in a Bottle

I thought I would take advantage of the 70 degree weather this weekend and make one last trip to the beach before winter sets in. While at the beach I was daydreaming about taking a vacation to Hawaii. Another winter stuck in the den with the wife and kids … I cringed at the very thought. Sunny warm beaches all winter, I could live with that. I dug out my smart phone and starting looking up airfare. They want how much to travel to Hawaii??!!! There has got to be a cheaper a way to get there.

Have you ever had one of those moments when fate answers your most pressing question? Well that is exactly what happened to me on the beach.

 

While I was surfing the web for airfares, I collided with a glass jar on the beach. (Okay, I admit I wasn’t paying attention to where I was walking). At first I was annoyed until I realized I could float in the jar all the way to Hawaii for free!

Hmmm, one problem, how do you get the lid off? This is ingenius, it unscrews.

I am going to need lots of provisions for the trip. Lucky for me I brought plenty of snacks.

How do I get inside the jar and close the lid?

Lucky for me, Vinnie showed up at the beach to enjoy the fine weather too.

Now, I think about it, he seemed way to eager to help put the lid on.

Here I am ready for the tide to take me on my sea adventure.

[Vinnie] A few hours later, the Coast Guard got a frantic mayday call from Chippy. Apparently he didn’t take into consideration the limited air supply in the jar.

"First Day"

Human kids have the first day of school. Chipmunk kids have first day out of the burrow. Here is the first day out of the burrow for the newest family in Woodpile.

A got a shy one here.

Oh, what a cute kid.

Correction, make that twins

That can’t be right, triplets!

Fall Harvest

Colby Farm in Newbury, Mass. (a/k/a Chipmunk Heaven)

We snuck into the car and hitched a ride with mom. While she was photographing we harvested seeds. I never realized how tall sunflowers are. We had to do a lot of climbing. We were so busy climbing and harvesting we forgot to set a lookout. The farmer caught us red handed. But he was really nice about it. His perspective was we only took 0.0001% of all the seeds in the field. He even gave us a sunflower on a stalk to bring home to the Woodpile to show our friends.

We setup the sunflower stalk at the Woodpile but didn’t tell anyone. We wanted to see how long it took the first critter to notice. Mrs. Spot was the first to discover it. It took her less than five minutes. She has the best sniffer in the whole Woodpile.

Mrs. Spot, “Did you smell that odd scent? Could it be?

No, there aren’t any sunflowers growing around the Woodpile.”

“I don’t remember this being here. I better investigate.”

“I am out of breath, this thing is really tall.”

“Hey everyone, you got to climb up and see this.”

 

“A real live sunflower!”

“Nothing like eating sunflower seeds right off the plant.”

Spot was soon joined by every chipmunk in the Woodpile and even the squirrels.

Talk about “party animals” what a glorious mess they made.

Mrs. Spot, “Quick, time to leave! Mom is coming with the broom and she isn’t happy

 about the mess we made.”

Basket Shopping

I overheard Mom talking about going to Colby farm in Newbury to photograph an entire farm field of sunflowers. There must be millions of seeds. We must go on a raiding expedition. But we’ll never be able to carry enough seeds home in our cheeks. We will need some baskets. I know just the place.

I explained my situation to the proprietor of The Basket Weaver, Mrs. Reed. I wanted the largest capacity basket she had in stock. She said she had just the right thing for me.

I think I need to rephrase my request, I need to be able to reach the handle!

Mrs. Reed, yelled out, I didn’t mean that one, I make those for the groundhogs for garden raiding expeditions. Look up. Oh …now I see.

This is more my size

What is the capacity of this one?

This looks nice

Help, my head is stuck

Choices, choices, choices

  

How do I decided?

  I'll take these two

Clam Bake on the Beach

It is Labor Day weekend! It is traditional to get together with friends and family and have a good time. I thought I would combine this with another great New England tradition, the clam bake. We went to our favorite local beach. I know what you’re thinking – Labor Day weekend, the beach is going to be crowded with a gazillion two legged tourists. One advantage to be classified as “wildlife” is you get to party in the areas roped off to protect the wildlife. So, we had our choice of spots, especially since most of the birds have already begun migrating south.

We went all out when it came to being “traditional.” We dug our own clams. (Since we are “wildlife” we don’t have get all those pesky permits, it is considered ‘natural” foraging behavior). I did cheat a little bit, I brought along a blue plastic rake to do the digging. It is much faster than using your own claws. A few clams will feed an extended chipmunk family. The kids had a great time gathering seaweed to cover the baking clams. We also “liberated” a couple of ears of corn from the farmer’s field.

Here I am with my digging rake

Covering the clams with seaweed to bake them.

Chippy Jr. poses for a goofy photo

 Hmmm, this smells so good! I can’t wait to eat. But, before you grab a bite ...

Reverend Brown said grace before the meal.