Well, I have barely been paddling this year since completing the Saskatchewan Watershed section of my cross-Canada trip and I most certainly have not been building anything. What I have been doing is research for my book. I do that at a local park where I meet up with certain wild friends to gab back and forth and eat stuff: mostly sunflower seeds. The one good thing about the park is that it is right beside the river so I feel ok about not paddling as often as I should.

Chester is my squirrel friend whom I have been training to eat outta my hand (read: Chester has been training me to feed him). I thought I would share am image of Chester taking advantage of my goodwill to all things wild - see that at the link below.

Also, I thought I would relate the story about something I witnessed during my visit to the park on Tuesday morning. There was a full and open box of Kleenex resting on the grass beside a wood/wrought iron park bench. The box was in an upside-down position. I was watching this squirrel (not Chester) bound toward the box and says to myself, "he's gonna be disappointed, that isn't food". Well I never saw anything like what I began to witness once the squirrel (let's name him "Wiper") reached the box. He flipped the box right side up and proceeded to pull a tissue out of the box. I'm watching this odd-ball act and thinking to myself, "what the?" Wiper successfully yanked a single tissue out of the box then used its mouth and front paws to actually roll the tissue up into a ball. He then bit into the ball and boundered to his nesting tree and disappeared within the thick branches. I was laughing out loud (a risky venture for a single white male sitting alone in his car with the windows open) at the preposterous sight. I turned my attentions back to hand-feeding the chickadees and Chester. A few minutes later, Wiper comes back and tried to pull out another tissue. This time the tissue wouldn't come out so easily so Wiper sets his little paws firmly into the grass and gives mighty yanks that cause the box to jerk toward him. You know how a dog will latch onto a toy and you pull on it and the dog uses jerking actions to fight to keep it - that's what Wipe was doing. Wipe dragged the box 10-feet before he got another tissue. He balled it up again and ran off toward the tree again. Wipe did this a total of 8-9 times before he failed to return.

I have to ask, why would a squirrel do this if it is not to line a nest for the ensuing winter season?

One more short tale. Have you ever wondered how so many people can toss their garbage near a garbage can instead of inside it? I have often wondered this, especially when arriving at the park in the early morning. So many times, almost every day in fact, I see unsightly garbage strewn all around the garbage bins. I used to wonder at the laziness and carelessness of people until I witnessed why this happens. I drove into the park one day and spotted a trio of crows resting on the lip of a garbage bin. They were cackling up a storm when all ofa sudden another one popped out of the garbage can with a bag in its beak. It landed on the ground nearby and while the other crows watched, it proceeded to tear up the bag in search of a few nibblin's. So much for wondering at the laziness of other people. When I think about it, I rarely see people litter.

Hoe these stories kept ya distracted in a pleasant way. Aight, back to work for me...I have a monitor to monitor.

Robert (Got time o)N(my hands) Pruden