Even a Blind Squirrel Will Find an Acorn Now and Then.

I occasionally speak of squirrels, of which I have two; they are small plastic creatures that sit on my desk and mock me.

When one of our regulars comes in for the usual tedious complaints requiring a narcotic script for the 20th time in the last two months, the squirrels dance. They recognize kindred spirits.  My personal mantra regarding squirrels: 

If you feed them, they will come 

My co-workers have, sadly, adopted my irreverent view of drug seeking complaints. Sometimes they will return from triaging and pick up one of the squirrels, or simply make chittering noises.  Sometimes I will be asked if I have such a thing as an acorn about.  Silly stuff.

it is not the first time that squirrels have been a running joke in my life.  "You should have bought a squirrel" has long been a favorite tag line among my skating ladies thanks to a long bus trip and the movie "Rat Race".  Google it, it's pretty funny. A few years later, Suzu the Squirrel, a pretty life-like but decidedly creepy hand puppet became a mascot for another group of skating ladies.  And, I have 1/2 pair of cute squirrel earrings given to me years ago as a Psecret Psycho gift.

More recently I was given a fun pair of socks from a co-worker:

Last year I devised the "Golden Squirrel Award":

Shocking that this one did not get stolen off the big fake tree in the lobby

Around Christmastime this past year, someone brought in a miniature Charlie Brown Christmas tree for our desk.  I loved it so much I immediately purchased one for my son and left it on the door of his apartment since it is the size of a phone booth and he would otherwise not have one.  As for the one on the desk I decreed that it should remain year round as a haven for my squirrels.  New Cathy, self-appointed Decorating Ninja, has dressed it up for Valentine's Day:

Ellen added the bird with the acorn cap because she actually thought it was a squirrel.

Ellen is usually stuck out front, but sees the squirrels, squirrel signs and things like this:

I blanked out my name and was too lazy to type in "EDnurseasauras"

and thinks that I have a passion for and/or collect squirrels.  Inevitably it is assumed that I am the Expert on All Things Squirrel, when in fact I am merely the one who pushes the snowball off the cliff.  A few weeks ago she sent me this text when she started hearing noises in her chimney:

Ellen did, in fact have a a squirrel removed by the critter control.  It didn't have a whole lot of fight left in it

Ellen pointed out that, coincidentally, January 21 is National Squirrel Appreciation Day.

My final squirrel note got my dog, Tina, into the act.  As a terrier, she is all about sniffing out squirrels and chipmunks. She is relentless, but it's winter and there just aren't any critters around just now. Imagine my surprise that on one of the coldest nights of the year, she brought home a dead frozen squirrel.  I made a nice "thunk" when she dropped it on the deck outside the back door.  Mr. EDnurseasauras apparently didn't chuck it far enough away because she retrieved the same cold, dead squirrel the following night.

"Good girl!"