Merry's newest travel client

At the travel agency, Merry’s co-workers thought his success with Harpie the seal was beginners luck. So, they set him up with a snowy owl client. There is a rumor that the last travel agent got eaten as a snack. This Snowy was nicknamed Whitey after the famous gangster. Merry confided in me that he was rather nervous about this new client. We looked up snowy owls on Wikipedia and the rumors are true: they love to eat rodents and even the occasional sea duck. Tucked away in one of the footnotes was an obscure reference to the fact that wood fiber gives owls indigestion.  Armed with the rather useful tidbit, Merry, Vinnie the P. and myself hatched a plan.

Merry went to the office and made all of the travel arrangements for his client. At the afternoon staff meeting, Merry announced he was making out his last will and testament. He asked his co-workers which of his personal possessions they wanted after his demise. It took less than five minutes for all of his worldly goods to be accounted for in his will.

Merry’s co-workers went out for a celebratory drink after work to congratulate themselves on finally ridding themselves of him. Vinnie and myself casually dropped by the tavern and bought them a round drinks. Then we started a betting pool. We got all twelve of his co-workers to wager a month’s pay that Merry would be eaten by his client. (If he survived they would have to pay us).

Merry gave the snowy owl a trip to the snow covered marshes near Salisbury Beach. The marshes are infested with mice and rats. (We chipmunks are not on good terms with mice and rats. They compete with for the same food resources.) When Whitey arrived at Salisbury Beach State Reservation gate house, he was greeted by a crowd of bird paparazzi with those expensive long lens. (Merry had announced his eminent arrival on the bird spotter websites). He loved all the attention. He had always dreamed of being a big celebrity. (Merry had wisely checked his facebook page and read all about his aspirations!)

Come Monday morning, Merry intentionally arrived late to the office to build up the suspense. He made a grand entry, jumped on his desk and ripped his will to shreds. Vinnie and myself dropped by a few minutes later and collected our “earnings.” Merry got a year’s salary out of the deal (minus our 10% fee)

Merry at his Woodpile office reading up on Snowy Owls and how they like to eat rodents

 

"Whitey" perched on the Salisbury Beach State Reservation gate house.

For a photo opt with the paparazzi. 

Whitey decided to visit the locals but they left in a real hurry,

straight through the bottom of the bird house!

The gray skies gave way to a snow storm.

Whitey found shelter amongst the rocks of the jetty.

 

On the next day, Whitey spent the afternoon "sun bathing"

  

In the later afternoon, he decided to go on a  hunting safari in the marshes.

Superbowl Champs Parade

On Tuesday Boston hosted the world’s biggest Superbowl party complete with a parade. An estimated 1.5 million people showed up. Human beings were packed like sardines into trains, buses, and cars trying to get into the parade. Not a problem for us critters. We had plenty of room under the seats and in the overhead luggage compartments. As for all of the sunflower seed shells on the floor, well, they just blamed it on a bunch of rowdy two legged fans.

The Woodpile got into the parade an hour early only to find some fans had arrived 4 hours early and it was really crowded. The only thing we didn’t factor in, was how we were going to see the parade over the heads of this crowd. We thought about sneaking up to the fence but then we realized we would be crushed under foot. Junior suggested we all climb up into the tree. A brilliant idea.

I had checked the weather forecast before leaving. It was supposed to be sunny and 50 degrees. However, during the parade, a squall hit Boston, and we had near white out conditions at moments. The funny thing is the snow flakes were red, white, and blue. I was told it was a special type of snow called “confetti.”

I thought I would share a few photos from the parade.

 

Mr. Kraft with one of the trophies

 

Julian Edelman with his beard and MVP trophy

The GOAT

#45 Trent Harris and #93 Lawrence Guy

Blue sky and a sudden snow squall (very strange weather in Boston)

 

Superbowl Chippy

A few months ago there was a local talent contest at the Woodpile Thanksgiving football game. Each contestant got to do the play-by-play broadcast announcing for ten minutes. I tried out just for the fun of it. I did pretty well I thought but I didn’t win. The Woodpile once again won the game and in all the excitement it never dawned on me that they never did announce the winner of the contest. This was a bit odd in hindsight.

On Friday morning 4am I was snugly in bed in my burrow. It was an arctic 5 degrees outside. I was sleeping soundly when I got a call from CSN. What your not familiar with CSN? This is international renowned Chipmunk Sports Network. They broadcast out of the subbasement at Gillette Stadium home of the New England Patriots. Apparently, I had won the contest and I was supposed to be in Atlanta but some assistant to the assistant dropped the ball and forget to let me know back in November. I needed to catch a 9am flight. I was a bit groggy and asked the caller why I needed to be in Atlanta …. “Chippy, you will be doing the live broadcast announcing for the Superbowl! We estimate CSN will have an audience of twenty-five million critter viewers.” “By the way, we have arranged for you to an interview with the GOAT.” Why would I want to interview a goat about the superbowl?

Travel Agent

My buddy Merry got an entry level job as a travel agent with “Chipmunk Travel” a magazine devoted to luxury vacation spots that cater to critters. The magazine also has its own travel agency. On his first day at the job, as travel agent, his co-workers decided to have some fun at his expense. The agency has a rather hard to please VIP client. In fact of the last five trips this client booked through the agency, she was completely unsatisfied with every last one. Not even the senior travel agents wanted to deal with her. So, they stuck her on the new guy.

Merry started by reading up on the client’s file. The agency had booked luxury vacations in various tropical paradises for this client. The client complained the ocean water was too hot, the sand blistered her skin, and the sun was too strong. According Merry, no one at the agency bothered to look up her species on Wikipedia (a rookie mistake as far as he was concerned!). According to her bio she was a harp seal. Harp seals are native to the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans (think frigid ocean temperatures, ice bergs, and double digit below zero air temperatures.)

Merry gave it some thought and booked her a vacation on Salisbury Beach State Reservation in the middle of January. This beach is located at the mouth of the Merrimack River in Massachusetts. Average day time temps are in the 20s to 30s. The beach is generally deserted in the middle of the winter accept for a few hardy dog walkers. The best part is there is no gate admission charge in January. This would be a 100% free vacation.

Merry made arrangements to meet Harpie at the beach. She decided to swim down from the arctic and take the scenic coastal route. Harpie found the above freezing temps to her liking. There was a coating of snow on the beach to roll around in and have winter fun. The sand was perfect for a massage. She couldn’t thank Merry enough for arranging the perfect “tropical” vacation!

Merry waits along the beach to welcome Harpie to Salisbury Beach.

“This is my idea of a relaxing vacation.”

“This winter sun feels good.”

“Hey waiter can you fetch me an iced latte?”

“It doesn’t get any better than this.”

 “Time for an afternoon nap.”

“Thanks Merry. This was the best vacation ever!”

Cheap "Airfare"

We are pretty hardy chipmunks when it comes to winter time. We are not bothered much by the cold weather. But, I must admit the lack of snow and chilly temperatures has made for a rather dull winter. Normally we enjoy all sorts of winter sports like sledding, skiing, and snowball fights. [Update - we just got a major snow storm but the wind blown snow and double digit negative wind chill factor has kept us snug in our burrows.] Everyone is a bit restless at the Woodpile and the discussion of late has turned to vacations on tropical island paradises. The problem is the cost of airfare. Even a cheap airfare of $300 is expensive for us. The current exchange rate is $1 per 1 lb of sunflower seeds. Which means I would have lug 300 lbs of sunflower seeds to the ticket counter. Folks have been brain storming creative (i.e. cheap) ideas to get to their vacation destination. Mrs Spot  came up with this in genius solution. She is going mail herself by U.S. Mail to Hawaii. She will travel by air mail of course.

I mentioned to her it might be a 2 to 3 day trip by air mail.

I don’t think five sunflowers will be enough.

Mrs. Spot piled a bunch more on the scale. It is important to factor in the extra weight of seeds.

“Chippy, do you think I will need more seeds than this?”

“How much does this weigh?

Spot can mail herself to Hawaii for less than $10, what a deal!

Scavenger Hunt at the Woodpile

Frosty the Snowman didn’t last very long. Rain and above freezing temperatures were his demise. The holiday school break for the kids proved a bit challenging to us parents. Normally, the kids will spend hours amusing themselves out in the snow making snow angels, building elaborate snow forts with secret tunnels, and stockpiling snowballs. The hoarding instinct is quite strong with us chipmunks even at a young age. This year the kids were quite literally climbing the burrow walls and driving us parents crazy. My wife prides herself on the nice smooth surfaces of our burrow walls and now they covered with claw marks.

My cousin Vinnie has been reading up on human psychology and was telling me about the latest studies that recommend human kids get 60 minutes of physical play time a day. Vinnie decided to devised some activities for the kids which were both physically and intellectually challenging. He hid a few pounds of chocolate covered sunflower seeds in the Woodpile. Then gathered all the neighborhood kids together and told them they could eat as much chocolate covered sunflower seeds as they wanted. “Uncle” Vinnie became an instant hit with the kids. Vinnie went on tell them his memory was not what it use to be. He remembered hiding them in the Woodpile to keep them safe, but, forget exactly where. So, they would have to go on a scavenger hunt to find them. By the time he finished his sentence the kids has scurried off at the speed of lightning to find those treats. I must say Vinnie did a really good job of hiding them. It took hours for the kids find all of them. They were completed exhausted by the effort.

(Heinrick) “I have been searching forever and haven’t found anything.”

Heinrick didn’t realize the seeds were only four inches from his nose!

By the time he finally figured out where they were and worked his way over to them, Lily had already swooped in and got them all, and he was left with empty cheek pouches.

Chippy Jr. precariously works his way out on the narrow edge to get his treat.

Heinrick has success finding some seeds.

Snow Day Snowman

We haven’t had much snow this winter so far. It has been mostly rain storms. I don’t mind but the kids have been disappointed. They have only had one snow day at school back in November. They took full advantage of the snow day they got. All the kids – chipmunks, squirrels, and birds – got together to make a snowman. It was refreshing to see the kids out playing rather than glued to their cell phone screens.

A Blue Jay helps out.

A White Throat Sparrow stopped by to help too.

Red Baron makes some final adjustments.

The kids have discovered new uses for sunflower seeds.

My daughter Alice admires the finished snowman.

Bushy Jr.’s big contribution to the project was to eat the leftover sunflower seeds.

After they finished, they had a game of tag.

 Alice and Red Baron kept circling the snowman during the game.