I’ve been watching this little guy for several years. He lives in our woodpile and ventures out to sun himself on a warm day, to eat, but most often to fill his pouch with seeds and acorns before scurrying off to add them to his winter stockpile. This little ground squirrel is a hard worker.
I call him “he” but he could be “she” just as well or it could be a different one each year.. He’s not much to look at when you compare him with the sleek beauty of the tree squirrels, with their long busy tails, but his work ethic would put most of us to shame. Last year, as the acorns fell from the big oaks in my back yard, he became a vacuum cleaner, sucking them into his cheeks until they looked like they could burst.
But this year was different. With the dry summer, there were fewer acorns on the oak trees for him to hoard. He had to change his plans if he were going to survive. So he turned to collecting seeds from the drying weeds and what few pine nuts he could salvage. Feeling sorry for him, I added dried corn, birdseed, and even vegetable peelings to the mix. It is going to be a tough winter for this hard worker but I suspect that changing his plans will increase his chances for survival.
Why am I telling you this story?
Just as unexpected changes have forced my friend, the ground squirrel to change his methods, events in our own life can force us to change our habits and the way we live.
Changes come and go and return, oftentimes in a different costume, but they are always there. The world has changed. The economy and our own personal situations change. I know that sitting in intensive care and watching the blood pressure of “the man beneath my wings” drop until it stopped soon to be two years ago changed me.
My whole life changed from living as a couple for 63 years to living alone. My habits, along with many other things, changed. My feelings about death changed.
Most deaths arrive unexpectedly and unannounced. Only a small number of us will be given any notice that our death is near. Those few will be able to say goodbye, talk about final wishes, make apologies for wrongs committed, or express love for those they are leaving behind.
I suddenly realized that I needed to live now and to do the things that needed doing and that I wanted to do now and, most important, appreciate the small moments of each day, and never take for granted that when I leave my home to go to the Senior Center for lunch or to the grocery store or anywhere else, that I will return.
The time is now because never again will I have this day.
Unlike Mr. Squirrel, I’m not saving up acorns for the future. I’m enjoying them now. I’ve taken the time to get records organized enough to make it easier for my daughters when that time comes. Unfortunately, I keep procrastinating about getting rid of all of this stuff that I’ve accumulted through the years. But I’m taking the time to do something that I enjoy. I take my dog for a walk every day. Enjoy a cup of coffee in the morning while sitting in the swing outside and watching the birds flitter through the oak trees.
And I write. I write a newsletter for the members of the Flagstaff Senior Lunch Program, and write articles for my blogs and ecommerce website at shopcreativegifts.com.
And finally, I’ve started writing short cozy mystery novels. The first one (Secrets of Lorena) has been published as an ebook on Amazon. The second one will be published this week, and the third one is read to format for publication.
Even now, I know that life is short. I have no idea when it will end. But I am taking it one day at a time and trying to enjoy each step of the way. And you should too!