Squirrels: 2, Lee: 0

I’m in the wooing stage with my neighborhood birds, and like any new relationship, there are some roadblocks. In this case, there is ONE (species of) roadblock. A threat in the kingdom of urbanized animals: the pesky squirrels who insist upon making my birdhouse fall to the ground for their own edification (and feeding). Oh, how I loved the squirrels. I wondered whether I should buy them a squirrel feeder. I watched them tenderly eating twigs and leaves and I felt a special kinship to my squirrel friends. I was, however, smitten with a certain other animal of bluish color and loud squawking. He left me recently and, ever a woman of action, I decided to get him back. I bought a birdhouse and a huge bag of food. My ears perked up when I thought he was in another yard. Surely he’d come back now that I could provide him with nourishment? But no, he seemed to be gone. In his stead I saw other birds, not of beautiful blue, but of browns and reds. They ate happily at my feeder and then WHAM! The feeder fell to the ground. At first I was confused and thought that maybe the flimsy string holding the feeder was of low caliber. Secretly, a nagging voice wanted to blame the squirrels. I banished the voice and replaced the string with insulated, stranded wire. It still had pliability, but it was wire, so it must be strong and able to withstand gusts of wind or the mighty weight of birds on the feeder. Two days later I glanced outside only to discover that the birdhouse had fallen again. A clean break in the wire indicated to me that it was no accident. These squirrels meant business. I went to home depot and bought 8 gauge bare copper wire—no plastic casing to give the squirrels the wrong impression of conquer-ability. Oh no, shiny copper firmly holds my birdhouse to the tree. The extra wire was used to wrap around the main, creating a "triple fold" effect in order to confuse the animals. Upon which wire should they gnaw?




Parental vacation, take 2 (for Will):
I’m afraid I might have annoyed them with my constant attempts at photography. Digital cameras are so FUN. We went to scenic Monterey and the Monterey Bay Aquarium:







Mom really loved the jellyfish, while I really loved pissing people off with a constantly flashing camera! (not really)



Dad couldn’t help but take special interest in all fish that can be sold commercially:



Dad and I had some very earnest thoughts on our roles in ocean protection:



Mom and I overlooking Monterey Bay:



PS. latest knitting blog entry