My Nursery Today

Or, How I Distract Myself from Woes

Sammy Squirrel's eyes came open over the weekend, at long last. High time he had a squirrel friend to grow up with, lest he begin identifying as a small, furry human being with superior climbing ability.

I called up Chris. "Do you have a buddy for my squirrel?"

"I've got 25 of 'em in assorted sizes to choose from," she said.

Yikes! Gone are the days when I last had 25 squirrels at once. That takes over your whole life.

So I went to see her little darlings, and there were two just Sammy's size, and they all liked each other.

"Why don't you just leave him here?" asked Chris, "and take these instead?"

Off came the cover of a small basket, and nestled inside were three "grayling" squirrels, as we call the ones who are no longer pure pink. Three little girls, two of them with umbilical stumps still attached. Five days old, give or take a day.

Of course she knew I couldn't resist. Besides, Sammy is quickly getting to the stage at which he will need a wire cage so he can begin learning to climb. And a wire cage, unlike a small box, doesn't fit very well in my mother's apartment, and I expect to be spending quite some time there in the coming days.

Then this morning a veterinarian's office called me and the receptionist said somebody had just dropped off a little Deer Mouse, eyes still closed. They had called Chris, and Chris had suggested they call me; she knows I love mice best of all.

When I picked mousie up, I just casually asked, "Does she have a name?"

"The girls here have been calling her Angelina Ballerina."

"Then that's who she shall be."

Except I've modified the name, to suit her personality better. She's Angelina Bombolina. (I know it's ridiculous: a mouse with an 8-syllable name!)

The heavy, hard housework is done for now, which is fortunate, as our air conditioner is not working and the repair people won't be here until evening. Demetrios is at work Tuesdays through Thursdays. So today I am happily ensconced in my nursery, feeding Angelina Bombolina .2 ccs of formula every 2 hours and the three infant squirrels 1 cc every 4 hours, and keeping everybody clean and sweet-scented. By tomorrow I will have synchronized their schedules, but today it seems I have someone to feed almost every hour on the hour, and that suits me just fine. I'm taking a break from tears, from worries, from woes, tending my babies and doing little spurts of gentle housework in between.

Lord, have mercy!