Squirrels and Bubble-baths

Just to keep the ‘history’ theme with his name, the next famous person that History wants to be is Paul Bunyan. Oh does he love the squirrels (History that is, I don’t have a clue if Paul liked squirrels)! He will ‘statue’ at the window for minutes on end watching them feed on corn cobs that we put on our desk for just that entertainment! When out in the yard and he spies a squirrel, he is off and running full speed! Of course the squirrel’s immediate reaction is to go up the nearest tree. Of course without opposable thumbs, it is difficult to climb the tree to get the squirrel. Although History does his darnedest to try, he ends up actually doing a little dance around the base of the tree, bouncing on his hind legs, while his fronts are up the tree trunk begging the squirrel to come back. As the squirrel does a spiral up the tree, so does History at the bottom – round and round the trunk. (Yes, finally we are getting to the Paul Bunyan part…).If only he were Paul Bunyan he could wield his mighty ax and chop down the tree and bring the squirrel back to ground level… Of course I have not yet had the camera with me when he does this.

The other day he was in the bathroom with me when I decided it was time for a bubble bath (for me, not him), despite the water restrictions, because I had a really bad day. When I turned on the jets to the tub, History was not startled at all, but definitely curious as to what was going on. He kept looking into the tub watching the water swirl around. Then he would lie down, then come back again, cock his head from side to side watching the bubbles. Very cute. He licked the side of the tub, and my hand, but made no attempt to drink the water or climb in. Although I bet he would get in there for a bath (maybe without the jets), as fearless as he is! Of course when I was all done, he tried to steal the mesh bath-puff from the faucet. He thought it was a perfect toy! But a gentle “uh-uh” was all that was needed to ask him to leave it alone.

He and our other grey (Aspen) continue to get along fine. Inside the house Aspen runs to the front window and barks when people/dogs walk down the street. History blindly will follow him to the window, but not bark. Of course, depending on where he was coming from, frequently there is nothing to see when he gets there! The only thing I have found that History barks at the little red Dirt-devil hand vac that I use on the stairs and throw rugs. The big vacuum he doesn’t mind at all (unless it touches the bed he happen to be lying on), but this little one he barks at and tries to play with. At least I think he’s trying to play because his tail is wagging like crazy and he appears to be play-bowing! Outside History is one who will chase the squirrels and Aspen runs along side, but doesn’t understand why they have to stop at the tree because he didn’t see the squirrel, and was just running with glee beside History. It’s funny that the roles are reversed inside versus outside.