Squirrels. Cardinals. Bumble Bees. And Me.

~ Live & Learn

CADDYSHACK, Bill Murray, 1980. (c) Warner Bros./ Courtesy: Everett Collection.

It’s difficult to understand how an innocuous  glance out the window could start a cascade of nonsense.  But, it did. And it does.

It’s Tuesday. I’m home on a late evening conference call. I see him through the window in the backyard.  He’s chubby-cheeked, hanging upside down, and clutching the iron cover of the bird feeder.

My call continued. And so did Chubby-Cheeks. The bird feeder is swinging from the pole. He’s shaking the cr*p out of it. And gorging on prime seed intended for goldfinches.  Had I been outside and not two floors up, I would have run the S.O.B. down.

My call continued.  I watched him. And wondered how this creature could manage to raise my ire.  This man, a college educated adult, 210 pounds (and counting)  vs. a foot-long squirrel weighing a pound or two.  There he was. Blissfully feeding. And I’m clenching a pencil between my teeth, tasting graphite on my tongue.

The call ended.  I ran down the stairs and out the door to find that he had vanished. Squirrel 483. DK: O.

Fast forward to Wednesday morning.  I’m heading out the door to walk to the train station.

There he was to my right.  Staring at me from the base of the evergreen tree in the front yard. Beady eyes.  His under carriage dragging on the grass, belly bursting from the bird seed.

I turn away to walk down the drive, promising that I’ll even the score later.  And, to my left is a Red Cardinal, bouncing in the dewy grass on her two feet, scavenging for grub. Red is looking hungry, not finding any seed in the feeder the night before.

I’m 100 feet from the train station and a bumble bee hovers over a flowering plant, peacefully and silently searching for nectar.

I’m waiting for the train.  Are you a Squirrel? Are you a Cardinal? Or are you a Bumble Bee?

And on we go with the rest of the day, the thought never far from consciousness.

I’m walking home from the train station.  Why does the Squirrel agitate you so?

William James would have the answer.  So, would an entire book case of self-help books gathering dust in the basement. Why does the Squirrel agitate you so?

Are you a Squirrel? Are you a Cardinal? Or are you a Bumble Bee?

I finish dinner and head to the basement.  I’m thumbing through the book spines to see if any titles ring a bell.  I’m scanning left to right, from top shelf to bottom. I pass Buddhism. Pass Business Management. Pass Public Speaking. Pass Sales Success.  Pass Millionaire Habits. Pass the Lee Iaccoca and Jack Welch Bios.

And bam, there it is.

I take the book down from the shelf and wipe the dust off the cover.  I sit on the cool basement floor to scan the yellow highlighted passages, detecting the faint smell of the highlighter that marked the pages five years ago.

And the seminal message from Deborah Ford and The Dark Side of the Light Chasers popped from the page as I re-read it:

We see in others what we like and don’t like in ourselves. If we embrace these parts of ourselves we will be able to see others as they, not as we see them through our cloud of projection…we need a mirror to see ourselves. You are my mirror and I am yours.”

Are you a Squirrel? Are you a Cardinal? Or are you a Bumble Bee?

Arggggggggh.

Photo: Bill Murray Caddyshack from Chicago Tribune

26 thoughts on “Squirrels. Cardinals. Bumble Bees. And Me.”

  1. Man I can relate to this! Mostly with people though, how some can just get under my skin and I don’t why and I think about how they bug me and wonder why they bug me all day long. Arg! ❤
    Diana xo

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  2. Embracing your shadow. My aunt was my pen pal for almost 3 decades, as we moved around the U.S. We met up in person in the fall of 2000 in the Pocono’s. Weeks later, she sends me Debbie Ford’s book, with a note “Read it, we’ll talk”. At first, I was offended, in full denial. Then I read it again . She was right , and we did talk. It is a life-changing read. Thanks for the reminder, David. ☺

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  4. There are positives and negatives about each one of these creatures. What we choose to like or dislike/ignore or accept is quite thought provoking. Great post.

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  12. Just got this for you. A visit from Squirrel could indicate that you need lighten your load of things that are unnecessary. Things that you have gathered in the past and may be cluttering your life such as thoughts, worries, and stresses. Ha how appropriate 🙂

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    2. Yes! Squirrel is your Totem! Oh, perfect! There’s a lot of determination in Squirrel, preparedness, industry. Like how the h*ll can they defeat every Squirrel Baffle on the market and ALWAYS get to those seeds? Squirrel is a Magician!

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  13. It’s true…and you need to just…go with the flow…find what is beautiful. The fact that I have a pet bunny now probably makes you grimace, I’m sure…but it’s amazing to me how much happiness can be found in the innocence of beings around us.

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