Friday, September 27, 2013

Who Woulda Thunk???

Peppercorn and Squarly

I just witnessed the strangest encounter outside my window.  There is a maple tree a squirrel regularly visits. I put peanuts out there for him/her every day. Lately, I've been able to go out when the squirrel is there and it stays to wait for me to throw and handful of peanuts.


Today, I saw Peppercorn, my barn kitty suddenly leap up onto the tree. The Squirrel--I call him/her "Squarly" stayed clinging to the opposite side of the tree trunk, not at all upset by the cat. When Pepper climbed up into the tree fork, Squarly went up too. Showing no sign of being afraid of Pepper, the squirrel almost looked as if he/she was following the cat. Pepper climbed a little higher, and Squarly climbed too.

Part of the drama played out on the opposite side of the tree so I could not see all the interaction. It was hard to tell if Pepper was running away from the squirrel or if the two of them actually touched each other. At one point it looked as if they might.

I would have expected the squirrel to be wary of the cat. Not so. I tried to get a picture of the two of them, but when I went out, Pepper saw me and climbed down to run over to me and the squirrel got a bit shy and climbed up the tree.

Prey and predator? Prey chasing predator from territory? Or pals?

Horses? Could not ride today or yesterday as I had my knees injected again. The new therapy is "neuraltherapy" of a new sort. The doctor explained they inject a dextrose solution around the nerves to irritate them and stimulate them to react normally. Apparently what happens in many surgeries is that the nerves are damaged or trapped by scar tissue and cause pain. My doctor says it's very common after joint replacements.

I was able to swim, however, and today I did about a mile. I am feeling it a bit, but that's OK. Lots of exercise is good for me, especially since I am still trying to lose weight. So far, as of Tuesday, I'd lost about 23 pounds. Not bad.

The only trouble is that I've gone down a size in clothes, and may have even started to drop down to the next size. I just bought a bunch of new jeans to wear when I teach--colored ones that are really pants. They fit now, but I have to wonder how long that will last.

Good thing I love to shop. The trick is what to do with the too big ones. Last year I donated a lot to charity, so I'll probably do that again. It's a nice tax break and may actually pay off in the end.

I  should be fine to ride tomorrow, so I'll report back then.

Meantime, I need to spend some time clothes sorting.


2 comments:

  1. Anonymous7:31 PM

    That's interesting - my cats definitely think squirrel is good to eat - as if they could ever catch one!

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  2. Wow! 23 pounds that's great! Good for you, all your hard work has paid off. Shopping for new clothes should be fun.

    Odd the interaction between the squirrel and the cat. Wonder what's going on with them?

    ReplyDelete