It’s a Hard Knock Life, So I’ve Heard

Remember toys that came in cereal boxes? Decoder rings and such?

Well, our ever-hungry backyard squirrel, the one who has been raiding the bird seed bin for days came up on the porch and chewed the heck out of the beloved super-duper green plastic Toy Story cereal spoon that was left out here after one of our morning sits.

We are crying. Well, one of us is crying.

Hearing us (or her), Neighbor Tina (that’s what we call our neighbors – Neighbor Pete, Neighbor Nora, Neighbor Mark, and Neighbor Tina) came over with a handful of wrapped sticks of clay. Now we are making snakes and tiny snowmen.

The Toy Story spoon owner just went inside to put on her shoes so she could chase the squirrels who have moved on from chewing on the Toy Story spoon to hang on our bird feeders. She is now using a rubber band as a pretend slingshot and laughing loud enough to be heard downtown. The squirrels run but come back. It’s how everything is.

We work the clay with our hands to soften it up. It’s not like Play-Doh I explain. It takes more work. More commitment. We are distracted by the need to constantly chase the squirrels. Action being more fun that art at the moment.

My daughter died a month ago and her daughter is in my backyard chasing squirrels. “You want to fight?” she yells when she charges across the yard with a sand pail on her head and a shovel in her hand. I think of her mom in this moment.

She would be laughing. So are we in her honor.