Saturday, January 22, 2011

Buried

It's been a rough winter. I don't think anyone in this part of the country would disagree. Even those of us who really like winter are tired of the fact that there is nowhere to put the snow any more, that you can't see to pull out of alleys and side streets, that there is no parking, that our cars are rattling because of the abuse they've taken this season.

All of that notwithstanding, we have to remember that there are giggles to be had and moments of wonder to savor. One of the things that can be entertaining is to see what turns up when the snow melts. We can only anticipate at this point, but I have spotted several things recently that reminded me of things appearing in March or April in years past.

Take, for instance the year that Pato's Long Lost Keys turned up in the back yard. He wondered and puzzled for weeks, searching everywhere before making another set, and there they were in April. A favorite from when I was a teenager was the story of a guy who carpooled with my mother; he found a pan in the yard with the food burned on it one spring. I guess his wife threw the whole thing out the door when it was in flames and just left it there. (Makes you wonder what they had for dinner that night, doesn't it? And did no one miss the pan?)
I saw this shopping cart in a parking lot today. Weird positioning, don't you think? Did someone run it into a snowbank after it smashed into his/her car or did a snowplow deposit it there?

This bike which is, I'm assuming, locked to the sign, is on Cretin Avenue in St Paul. I'm assuming it was there when the blizzard hit last month but who knows?

What brought this all up was something sticking out of a pile of snow in the backyard. I noticed it when I went to take out the garbage today. It's funny, because I don't usually take out the garbage. That is a job for boys. If there is a male in the house then I expect the garbage to be taken out by said person. That's the way it was when I was a kid, so it's the way I expect it to be done. Rules are, of course, meant to be broken and today was a rule breaking day apparently, because there I was taking garbage out to the alley.

Anyway, this is what I noticed...

... and I took a closer look and by god I think it's a squirrel or a rabbit. Whaddaya think?




So I go back in the house and I'm chattering to Boy-child about this thing sticking out of the snow I realize he's FASCINATED! He can't wait to get back from work so he can dig it out and see what it is. I'm assuming it's a squirrel, but it could be a rabbit or something else. (I don't deal with the dead animals, only the live ones. Yes, folks, if there's a live mouse in the house I'll deal with it but I don't like the dead ones and half-eaten chipmunks left for later in the yard by the cat are not my job. Pato gets those, usually, but he's not here).

Don't you wonder what happened there? It must've been the day of the blizzard because it looks like it's perpendicular to the ground which means it must've been in motion when it landed in the snowbank or something. It's weird.

Then Boy-child starts wondering about it and talking about how his friend Ian knows taxidermy and he brings up some Scrubs episode with taxidermied squirrels and I say, "It's a f*ing squirrel for gods' sakes' you're not saying you'd consider stuffing a rat with a furry tail are you?" and he says sure, it's cool, it's a squirrel that died in my back yard and yadda yadda....and then he starts teasing me about how he's going to bring it in the house and I'm going to wake up with a squirrel in my bed and OMG this kid watches way too many movies!

Just so's y'all know. You might be reading about us in the papers. Don't know which one of us will kill the other. Another thing to wonder about.

Now that I look at the photo I'm thinking it's a rabbit. Maybe he won't put it in my bed. I don't hate rabbits.

The anticipation is killing you, isn't it?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think it is Davy Crockett. In his coonskin cap. Just how deep IS that snowbank?

Anonymous said...

Looks like a rabbit. creepy/sad!!! maybe it hopped high and landed on its head and hit ice???

sniff!

SuzyQ

Anonymous said...

Just gotta add that if that was a rabbit its foot was beyond unlucky...

SuzyQ again

Sarah Hansen said...

My dad has TWO stuffed squirrels in his house. Yes, he shot them. And had them stuffed and mounted to look like they're crawling up the side of a tree! They are mounted to little patches of bark! Ha! Also, GROSS.