The squirrel had no fear, getting closer and closer to me as I sat at the outdoor table drinking my milkshake.  It was licking up every little bit of spilled ice cream that had melted on the sidewalk.  Doug took a spoonful of his ice cream and dropped it on the ground so the squirrel picked it up with its little front paws and ate it.  Then he moved towards me, got up on its hind legs and looked at me with those big brown eyes. No, not Doug, the squirrel.  I told the squirrel that I had nothing to offer it, but it just kept looking at me, so, as I had both a long spoon and a straw in my milkshake, I got a spoonful and put it towards the squirrel, who then grabbed hold of it with me and sucked down the milkshake.  Then I gave him the spoon and he proceeded to lick off every drop.  Doug was pretty sure this little guy was an ice cream junkie.

For the next several moments I continued to have this crazy, whimsical conversation with this beautiful little red squirrel sitting right next to me, begging for more ice cream.  Certainly a first for me and as I told Doug, the “funnest” thing I had done in a while.  But that was me, being me in the moment.  I don’t often do this kind of thing.  Oh, I may think about doing it, but then common sense or fear takes over and I just wish I had done it. Of course, knowing a squirrel bite could end up giving me rabies should have been something to fear, but I didn’t get bitten, so – whatever.

Doug decided to take a picture to mark this interesting occasion, but he only photographed from the elbow down so as not to show my face.  A bit like the Ed Sullivan show opting to only show Elvis Presley moving from the waist up.  Perhaps showing my face while feeding a squirrel would be a bit inappropriate?  No, the real reason was he wasn’t sure if it was legal to feed squirrels ice cream.  After all, how often does this really happen? However, yes, it is legal to feed squirrels in the state of Nebraska, the only caveat being that in doing so, you might create a nuisance.  I’m pretty sure this squirrel was already a nuisance before I arrived.

Soon, a family came down the sidewalk, fascinated by the cute little squirrel, until it started to stalk them.  The mom and kids backed away quickly while dad got ahead of everyone just to make sure he had the car going for them I suppose.  Surely he wasn’t afraid of one itty bitty squirrel?  Having given the squirrel my spoon I found myself in trouble when it wanted more.  So, like any good Samaritan would do, I sucked up a bunch of milkshake and blew it onto the sidewalk.  Immediately my little friend was lapping up the chocolate ice cream and I could once again focus on me and my milkshake.  Unfortunately I did get a little bit on the back of the poor squirrel, prompting Doug to create a scenario for when this poor creature returned home to his wife. “Been begging for ice cream again!” she would say, shaking her little furry head.  What’s a wife to do when her squirrley husband has such a sweet tooth?

This whole experience today could explain why I’m a sucker for squirrley kids with big eyes, looking at me for something more.  More patience, one more chance to correct a behavior, one more time to play a fun game or sing a favorite song.  Not a good thing for a teacher necessarily, but sometimes you’ve just got to let go and do something “funner”.  Something you might not always do but you grab the moment and go for it so that everyone has a good time.  I’m pretty sure I would try this kind of thing again with my little friend.  Only maybe next time I would pick up more spoons.