A Little Squirrelly

Around 2:30 in the afternoon yesterday, the electrical power went out. The cooking gas stayed on but, the electrical power was out. The house alarm kept making this horrific screeching noise to alert me that it was off line. The nearest neighbor across the street was not affected. The problem seemed to be contained on my side of the street. After a couple three hours the power company came out to alert all involved that they need a bigger truck and would be right back. They said that the problem would take a couple hours to fix and to be careful with candles and “oh, by the way… squirrels had angrily attacked the transformer which knocked out the power.” They of course needed to replace said destroyed transformer thingy.

Roughly three hours came and went before the bigger truck with the replacement part returned. They made quick work of things. The process took roughly 30-40 minutes. The interesting story here really is how I spent my time in the dark.

After making a cup of tea and a peanut butter sandwich for dinner, I then allowed my mind to roam pondering the possibility that this was personal and the squirrels had it in for me. You see the inset photo I took a while back is key here. A bit earlier I had watched that same squirrel along with a friend rip a hole in the neighbor’s garbage and remove that very same half full (and it was half full and not half empty) Dorritos bag. They both dragged the bag around to my door where they proceeded to party. The second squirrel was camera shy and scurried away when I began to snap the shots. Eventually, the second squirrel dashed off and I tossed the Dorritos bag. A short while later three bewildered looking squirrels appeared to be glaring at the door. In the darkness I wondered if they wanted revenge and putting the power out was their first step. I even texted Dr. M and Dr. D who both suggested comical solutions being unaware of my true peril. One even suggested an appetizing dinner might be in the offing. Anywho, having exhausted my unrealistic fears I moved on in ridiculous thought.

I wondered how squirrels who acted so well, “squirrelly” in the yard and on the fence could shimmy up a utility pole and chew around live power lines until they had destroyed things and power was out? These same squirrels knew how to make a party with popular munchies but, at the same time could not get across a roadway without becoming pizza. What a curious lot. They were indeed crafty. This led me full circle to my belief that they were coming for me; then the lights came back on.