Millbrook: Squirrel with a Great Big Nut!

As I left my car in the parking lot and set out into the marsh, first one, and then a second hawk took to the skies above my head. Dramatic clouds battled golden breaking light over Mount Nittany in the distance. Such sky! Much show!

Temperatures had been mild overnight, almost springlike, but they would drop quickly throughout the day, ushering in the return of more typical wintry weather. Everyone seemed to know what was coming. There were mallards on the water, and the boardwalk was busy with wildlife.

A small red squirrel trotted along the boardwalk with a huge nut, then exited the boardwalk to climb a branch. Perhaps I looked like the untrustworthy type who might steal such tasty provisions. It tucked its prize into a crook in the branch and skittered away, no doubt planning to return and claim it after I'd passed by.

I turned from watching the red squirrel to see this fellow - a gray squirrel - with a very similar nut in its mouth. It sat along the edge of the boardwalk for just a few seconds, and I quickly snapped two shots before it turned and ran away.

As I returned to my car, I saw motion in the sky again. First one hawk, then the other, returned, and made swooping circles above me in the air. Farewell, friend, they seemed to say . . . a message spoken in wings, not words.

Thank you, clouds and light. Thank you, mallards. Thank you, red squirrel. Thank you, gray squirrel with a huge nut. Thank you, hawks. *happy sigh*

The song is in honor of the two hawks, for surely two hawks are better than one, two hawks can get the job done, two hawkkkkkkkkkssssss arrrrrrrre bettttttttter than one . . .   ;-)  Here is Bruce Springsteen, with Two Hearts. (Springsteen & Crew sure look like they're having fun, don't they!?)