The Taming Of The Squirrel...

I think I’ve previously mentioned my love of squirrels. If I haven’t, then let me mention it now. Squirrels are so cute with their bushy tails (except for this one that I saw a couple of days ago. It had mange and was mostly bald. It was really rather gross) and their little hands. Sometimes I feed them out the window of our 2nd story apartment. I have a few snack sized bags of chex mix that I sprinkle down from the open screen and drop to the ground. My squirrel (I call him Paul after Paul McCartney) comes over and eats it. Squirreling (ha!) it away in his cheek pouches. A-fucking-dorable.

Anyway, so even though I love squirrels, I’m wary of them. I won’t hand feed them the way some people do. I know from experience that a wild squirrel cannot be tamed. When I was 19, I was attending college at Indiana University-Kokomo, or IUK. Being such a small satellite school, it only had 3 buildings. They were arranged in a triangle and in the center was a little grassy area with sidewalks between the buildings. There were trees aligning 2 of the sides of the campus and a parking area aligning the 3rd. It was (and I’m sure still is) a very nice looking campus.

As I said before about the squirrels, sometimes folks try to tame them. They are able to hand feed them. The little squirrel inches its way up to you and gently takes the food from your fingertips. Sounds lovable, right? Don’t be fooled! They are vicious, wild animals. They will attack you in the wink of an eye. And, it will be without warning.

One day, I was walking with a friend who was also attending IUK. His name is Ryan and he’s a queenie bitch of a man. His mannerisms are extremely feminine. When he screams, as he did one fall day, it sounds like a woman. What made him scream was a ferocious squirrel. Ryan bent to offer a bit of stale bread that he always carried with him to feed the squirrels. The squirrel crept up to Ryan and took the proffered bread. Nibbling at it quickly and shoving it into its cheek pouches. It sat up and waited for a moment, as if silently asking for another bit of bread. Then, without warning, it got a crazy look in its eyes and leapt up into the air, hurling its tiny body towards Ryan’s skinny little chicken’s leg decked out in some sort of designer jean.

The squirrel latched itself onto Ryan’s leg with that crazed look, hooking his tiny paws onto each side of the leg of his pants. Ryan squealed like a woman and began to violently shake his leg in an attempt to unlatch the squirrel. His arms were flailing and the messenger bag on his shoulder dropped to the ground. All of this seemed to piss off the squirrel so he bit into Ryan’s leg-through the denim-with his sharp little teeth. After biting him, the squirrel pulled back and looked up at Ryan for a brief moment before releasing its talon-like claws and jumping back and off of him and running up the nearest tree, the taste of blood in his mouth.

Ryan’s poor leg needed a couple of stitches and he had to have a series of rabies shots in his belly. The day after it happened, the Dean sent out an email to all students, warning them against feeding the seemingly tame squirrels. Everyone at the tiny school heard variations of the story as it flew around the campus from mouth to ear to mouth. I, myself, heard a few deviations from what happened as an eyewitness to the account. I never corrected anyone; instead, I just enjoyed the stories and laughed internally at the varying degrees of severity of them. The next semester, I dropped out. So did Ryan.

And The Beat Goes On...

I've got a nice mix of Lortab, Percocet, and Coke Zero coursing through me. I'm not the most lucid I've ever been so I hope, dear reader, you will forgive and forget if I make no sense.

I thought it was time for a life update. My semester is nearly complete and I've got a whirlwind of papers to write and exams to study for. 4 more weeks. This semester has flown by. Hell, this whole school year has flown by. June will be my one-year anniversary of living in the big city. There are days when it feels as if I've been here all along...and days when everything seems fresh and I feel so green and new. It's coming together, though. Our apartment has become a really kitschy and comfy pad. We are currently lacking a dresser and a bed frame...but they are simmering. D talked about going to get a bed frame today. By herself. I don't think it'll fit in my car...but who knows.

Anyway, so I'm sure you are curious about the pain killer cocktail. Somehow I've managed to injure my left leg to the point that it's in constant sharp, nerve pain and goes numb on occasion. Having an MRI tomorrow...I'll keep you updated, dear reader...for, I'm certain you are biting at the bit and dying to know what is wrong with my poor leg.

Shaylin is in daycare now because D needs to be here to help me. I have to admit I feel a little guilt for this. I know that Shay needs to move on to a learning environment where she is exposed to kids for long periods of time...but did I really need to be the catalyst that sent her to daycare in a whirlwind? D is having a rough go of it. I completely understand...after being with her daily for nearly 1.5 yrs, you are gonna go through a lil separation anxiety, amiright?

I think that's about it for now. It will be nap time soon. I suppose I'll wrap up this installment by sharing a blog that I have recently (yesterday) fell in love with. It's called six sentences. Check it out and you'll understand. I'm working on my 6 sentences so I can post, too. Look for me :)

An Attempt At Poetry...

if you know me on an intimate level, you know i am a writer at heart...but not a poet. i decided to step outside my box and try my hand at a poem just for the fun of it. it is a rework of this piece. any and all feedback would be appreciated and welcomed with an open mind.

*deep breath* here goes...

Struggling to find words that illustrate me
Shaping who I am and where I’ve been
Thoughts and opinions get expressed
In words far too big for my pretty mouth

By the time it’s made it all the way ‘round
I’ve lost the words
Sentences flying out the window of a moving car
Spitting against the wind and all of that jazz

I’m mute
I open my mouth and flap my jaws
Snapping my teeth at the moon
Snarling at the heavens

Yearning for a being higher than I
Longing to be in touch with spirituality
Hungering for acceptance
And craving prayer I feel gets heard

I need peace
Piece of mind
Self-worth
And self-control

Do you know me?
Am I familiar?
Why won’t you answer me?
Are you even out there?

Is it enough to just be?