he (or she) is taunting me.

there are little green cherry tomatoes stilllll on the plant and i’ve been waiting to pick them until they are at their most ripe-green stage. after that, i’ll put them on the counter and let them ripen (or in a brown bag)…i guess i will look that up. anyway, there are probably about twenty of them or so and i want to make a pasta dish with the last of our sweet harvest.

and then there is this squirrel. i’ve been referring to it as “him”, though it could be a “her” and i suppose i could just say “they” because i have no problem using inclusive language. but that is off-topic.

this squirrel – let’s assume her for now – i read maybe it is a lactating female who is trying to stay hydrated and will eat the less-than-ripe cherry tomato as a source of hydration (though i would also point to our oft-visited birdbath or the pond in our backyard as other options…)

this squirrel jaunts down from the trees onto the wires and into the garden next to barney. it climbs up barney and then scoots along the top of the fence, stopping to [what looks like] stare in the window at me, grinning. then it promptly hops down off the fence onto the empty potting stand and saunters over to the tomato plant to triumphantly choose which little tomato it wants.

the other morning i walked outside to see this cherry tomato picked, its top plucked off, a wee-little-bit of the inside eaten and then left in a really obvious place on the deck railing for me to find. “i was here,” the cherry tomato announced for the squirrel. i laughed and took a picture, leaving the tomato for whenever the squirrel wanted to finish it.

in the meanwhile, it got me to thinking.

this squirrel – male or female – lactating or just downright feisty-hungry – took what it needed. it left the rest for – well – another squirrel or another time or some other critter that might want some green tomato.

in these times of this very, very blue wave – in these first few days post-tide-change – i have taken hope and light from this election. i have allowed myself to breathe, to lessen the knot in the back of my neck a tiny bit, to hope that maybe goodness is rising – forcefully and with intention.

i have not relinquished a sense of caution nor have i thought – even for a minute – that the fight is over. and the current vile administration has since made it clear that learning anything whatsoever from this pushback wave is impossible…as is caring and concern for the american people.

so we take what we need – a breath, some hope, a little bit of light, a refreshing glimpse of decency – and we continue on.

we leave the literal (and figurative) green cherry tomato on the deck rail for others to grab a breath, some hope, a little bit of light, a glimpse of decency – or – at the very least – some hydration – and we keep on keeping on.

we won’t be taunted by this squirrel’s adorable antics. they are harmless, following the north star lessons of mother nature, and we are people who care about the critters out there.

and we also won’t be taunted by this administration’s inconceivably pathetic and desperate attempts to make this country an authoritarian state. extremism and cruelty are their north stars. and that is – most definitely – not who we are.

*****

read DAVID’s thoughts this TWO ARTISTS TUESDAY

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