Lately my
blog has been neglected because my attention was directed elsewhere. The first thing I had to deal with was the issue
of an electrical shortage in my kitchen.
I wasn’t sure if the electrical problem affected the entire house, but
thankfully it was confined to only the kitchen.
Now that the matter has been resolved and my pockets have gained another
hole, I can relate to you what is currently troubling me.
You see, during
the winter I gained a new roommate. A
squirrel decided that my home is quite suitable for her to nest in. She climbed atop my porch and squeezed
herself in between the roof and the asphalt shingles. Instead of a smooth row of shingles, now I
have a lifted section that resembles a hump.
Every morning when I leave for work, I turn back and glance at my
house. I love my house. It wasn’t easy to buy her on my own and with
the financial crisis it hasn’t been easy to keep her. So, I’m very happy to have her.
Here I am
looking back at my house and there. She. Is!
She was perched on top of the porch, probably on her way to work too (foraging
for nuts and such, which is probably harder work than what I do). I stopped in my tracks and so did she. But she gave me this “Oh, no you didn’t just come out of my house!” look. and I in turn shouted at her: “How dare you move in to my house!” That’s right, I actually yelled at a squirrel
outside in the street.
The face-off
began and I think that she believes she stared me down, but you see it takes me
an hour and a half to get to work every day.
If I miss the bus, I’ll be very late.
So I left and rushed to work trying to make up for lost time. Since then I haven’t seen her, but I’ve heard
her scratching on the walls. I suspect
that her nest is deep inside the porch on the other side of my bedroom wall. And who knows how much damage she’s caused? I don’t even know if she has babies in there.
Considering
the number of holes in my pockets, I don’t have the capital to make repairs at
the moment. Every time I think of the
dreaded squirrel, $$$ signs float before my eyes – $$$ signs that I don’t have. First, I have to evict her, repair the damage
and ensure she doesn’t return next winter to do it again. All I think about (at least when I'm at home) is
her. Since she’s occupying so much time
in my mind, I’ve decided to name her. I’ve
combed through the baby name sites and no name I saw captured what she’s doing
to me. But I didn’t give up and continued
my search until finally I found it. The
name: Xiuhcoatl. The meaning:
Weapon of Destruction. Perfect.
I wonder if
Xiuhcoatl is trying to find a way to evict me – now that would be funny. But I tell you this, that Bi – I mean rodent –
is going down!