My Favorite Squirrel

[littlebeast13]

Those of you who read my blog know that I take a lot of photos of the squirrels in my yard, and feature them every Saturday. While I am starting to get to recognize a few of the regulars, there was a new young squirrel who began showing up right before Christmas who is absolutely unmistakable. I showed off a few early pictures I took of him on my blog back in December, but I've gotten some more good pictures since then, and want to show him off on the Bored as well. He is absolutely gorgeous, and you will quickly see what his most recognizable feature is...

How's it going?

I love the view from up here!

Happy squirrel!

You wish you had a tail like this too!

Gotta get on down the wire...

Camoflauge

Ain't I adorable?

The classic pose

Out of focus... but the color came out awesome...and it makes this look like a cool, impressionistic painting!

I call him Foxy. He's the only one of my squirrels with a name...

lb13

[a1mamacat]

he/she is adorable

Must have had a peak at thos redtailed Russian squirrels, and decided to adopt the coloring.

[kayrharris]

He obviously has a good hair sylist that specializes in color.


kay

[FannyHeartsVanillaThunder]

I would call him Fire Butt.

Or Culo Caliente if you want to get all fancy and lingual......

[Estonut]

I would call him Fire Butt.

Or Culo Caliente if you want to get all fancy and lingual......

I recommend against getting all lingual with Fire Butt.

[FannyHeartsVanillaThunder]

I would call him Fire Butt.

Or Culo Caliente if you want to get all fancy and lingual......

I recommend against getting all lingual with Fire Butt.

That's why I suggested Hot Ass, instead.....ha!

[ghostjmf]

We're to assume you (&/or your telephoto lens) got close enough to determine Foxy's gender?

At any rate, seems like one of those English red squirrels has had their way with the other of Foxy's parents. A transcontinental squirrel romance?


I'm at bluegrass festival in a hotel where the breakfast brunch, if I want it, of which I can only eat the eggs & fruit (eggs have almost zero carbs, so I was really looking forward to chowing down on them) costs $18.00, & where I don't have a room for the night because I was planning to drive the 20 miles back to Somerville to sleep; before the giant snowstorm was predicted for this afternoon & tonight, that is, but at least they have free internet terminals when the other attendant's kids get done sharing photos on them, that is.

[Bob Juch]

We're to assume you (&/or your telephoto lens) got close enough to determine Foxy's gender?

At any rate, seems like one of those English red squirrels has had their way with the other of Foxy's parents. A transcontinental squirrel romance?


I'm at bluegrass festival in a hotel where the breakfast brunch, if I want it, of which I can only eat the eggs & fruit (eggs have almost zero carbs, so I was really looking forward to chowing down on them) costs $18.00, & where I don't have a room for the night because I was planning to drive the 20 miles back to Somerville to sleep; before the giant snowstorm was predicted for this afternoon & tonight, that is, but at least they have free internet terminals when the other attendants kids get done sharing photos on them, that is.

You're at Joe Val? Either you never mentioned you are a bluegrass aficionado or I have forgotten.

[Estonut]

We're to assume you (&/or your telephoto lens) got close enough to determine Foxy's gender?

At any rate, seems like one of those English red squirrels has had their way with the other of Foxy's parents. A transcontinental squirrel romance?


I'm at bluegrass festival in a hotel where the breakfast brunch, if I want it, of which I can only eat the eggs & fruit (eggs have almost zero carbs, so I was really looking forward to chowing down on them) costs $18.00, & where I don't have a room for the night because I was planning to drive the 20 miles back to Somerville to sleep; before the giant snowstorm was predicted for this afternoon & tonight, that is, but at least they have free internet terminals when the other attendants kids get done sharing photos on them, that is.

You're at Joe Val? Either you never mentioned you are a bluegrass aficionado or I have forgotten.

You have forgotten.

[ghostjmf]

I am indeed at Joe Val. The hotel, which earlier in the day had assured me they had a waiting list so long it made no sense for me to even ask to put my name on it, scribbled my name on a little scrap of paper, I thought just to humor me, & then called me around 5:00pm to give me a room after all. (The ringing phone did not endear me to the workshop I was in. But if I had had it on buzz I'd probably never have heard the call.) Well, give is not exactly the right word. I advertised in the few places there are for roommates, but have no takers.


This whole thing is bittersweet, as I've always wanted to stay for all the late night jams, but can't afford the hotel, & sleeping in my car in the cold night in winter is only for emergencies, not things I can plan ahead to avoid. Not in my current state of health anyway. I has been planning to sleep on one of the downstairs couches & pretend I had just passed out there if the janitorial staff roused me. This sort of thing is allowed in airports, but not fancy hotels. But here I am now with this $117.00 room & in my current non-health state am just too sleepy to stay up for the jams.


These rooms go on sale a couple months before the festival & are sold out within about 5 minutes. Very literally. So even people who can ante up the $$ don't always get in to the hotel where the festival is held. There are other hotels/motels in Framingham for them, but tonight even the Motel 6 right across route 9, had I gotten a room in it, is something I would have crossed the highway on foot (not recommended at any time of day) to get to rather than driven to.


When I think of the major blizzards I've blithely driven through in my youth. Oh, those were the days.

This little Lenovo keyboard is its own ordeal when I'm so sleepy. I dunno a laptop is really in my future afterall. I'm just a real-keyboard-loving fogy.

[Bob Juch]

We're to assume you (&/or your telephoto lens) got close enough to determine Foxy's gender?

At any rate, seems like one of those English red squirrels has had their way with the other of Foxy's parents. A transcontinental squirrel romance?


I'm at bluegrass festival in a hotel where the breakfast brunch, if I want it, of which I can only eat the eggs & fruit (eggs have almost zero carbs, so I was really looking forward to chowing down on them) costs $18.00, & where I don't have a room for the night because I was planning to drive the 20 miles back to Somerville to sleep; before the giant snowstorm was predicted for this afternoon & tonight, that is, but at least they have free internet terminals when the other attendants kids get done sharing photos on them, that is.

You're at Joe Val? Either you never mentioned you are a bluegrass aficionado or I have forgotten.

You have forgotten.

Please send me a copy of your notebooks. I'm getting old and losing my memories.

[Bob Juch]

I am indeed at Joe Val. The hotel, which earlier in the day had assured me they had a waiting list so long it made no sense for me to even ask to put my name on it, scribbled my name on a little scrap of paper, I thought just to humor me, & then called me around 5:00pm to give me a room after all. (The ringing phone did not endear me to the workshop I was in. But if I had had it on buzz I'd probably never have heard the call.) Well, give is not exactly the right word. I advertised in the few places there are for roommates, but have no takers.


This whole thing is bittersweet, as I've always wanted to stay for all the late night jams, but can't afford the hotel, & sleeping in my car in the cold night in winter is only for emergencies, not things I can plan ahead to avoid. Not in my current state of health anyway. I has been planning to sleep on one of the downstairs couches & pretend I had just passed out there if the janitorial staff roused me. This sort of thing is allowed in airports, but not fancy hotels. But here I am now with this $117.00 room & in my current non-health state am just too sleepy to stay up for the jams.


These rooms go on sale a couple months before the festival & are sold out within about 5 minutes. Very literally. So even people who can ante up the $$ don't always get in to the hotel where the festival is held. There are other hotels/motels in Framingham for them, but tonight even the Motel 6 right across route 9, had I gotten a room in it, is something I would have crossed the highway on foot (not recommended at any time of day) to get to rather than driven to.


When I think of the major blizzards I've blithely driven through in my youth. Oh, those were the days.

This little Lenovo keyboard is its own ordeal when I'm so sleepy. I dunno a laptop is really in my future afterall. I'm just a real-keyboard-loving fogy.

You can plug a real keyboard (and mouse) into a laptop.

Do you have a tent for camping out at the festivals in warmer weather?

[ghostjmf]

I know you can plug a real keyboard into a laptop. This Lenovo crap keyboard thinks its real enough, & its already too bulky to carry feasibly. The Dell-ish real real keyboard I want, with real concave key tops your fingers fit into, & the keys the distance apart they're supposed to be, would be even bulkier.


Since I am accustomed to sleeping in my car in warmer weather at festivals, I don't need a tent. If I got one, I'd need a decent air mattress too; I used to have one 'til my cat did it in. I'm too old & creaky to sleep directly on the ground with nothing but a tent floor & a sleeping bag between me & it anymore. At festivals where the space is limited, just having a car to find space for is a blessing. And I don't have the work of setting anything up.


At campgrounds, though, I have to tell them I am going to set up a tent or they won't let me camp there, on the basis that "people who sleep in their cars are vagrants". If the car were a station wagon with a mattress in the back, though, that would pass their non-vagrancy test. Campgrounds are scenic places to shower in, so I prefer them to truck stops, even though they cost more than truckstop showers.

[littlebeast13]

We're to assume you (&/or your telephoto lens) got close enough to determine Foxy's gender?

At any rate, seems like one of those English red squirrels has had their way with the other of Foxy's parents. A transcontinental squirrel romance?

You would assume correctly. The one time I would have gotten a good shot of his/her/its underside, I didn't have my camera ready... and it was damn cute too. Foxy was standing on its hind legs and started bopping up and down like it was scratching its butt...

I would love to know how this odd genetic quirk happened. All the squirrels in my neighborhood are greys, though some of them have some reddish fur on them, none are quite as obvious as that tail is....

lb13

[ghostjmf]

People may wonder why I didn't just up & leave the place with the very expensive buffet breakfast, at least the morning before the snowstorm, & go to a place with a less expensive breakfast, buffet or otherwise. Or a supermarket, which they have some of in Framingham. Answer, not immediately obvious, is that you lose your parking space at such a festival at your peril. Sheraton Tara (yes, it's built "like Tara", though they've since officially dropped that part of the name, & I think just use Sheraton Framingham) has an immense parking lot, but Joe Val Fest has an even more immense attendance. So those of us who don't usually stay at the hotel get there very early, in hopes of finding parking spots that those who are getting there from other hotels/motels, or their homes, like me, haven't got yet.


I dunno exactly what fate befalls those who cannot find a parking spot, but I think I know from the festival staff person who interrupted a group's main-stage set saying "We normally don't interrupt a set for anything, but someone is parked so illegally that we can't even get a tow truck in there to tow them, that's how illegally they're parked, will the person who owns the vehicle with license plate such-&-such please move their car". That poor staff person, unless they got an immediate response to that (I saw someone run out, so maybe they did) will have had to go to the Showcase Stage & interrupt that performance, then to 4 or 5 workshops, & then to various groups jamming in the halls. On however many levels the hotel has. I hope that person who ran out owned that car.


The hotel did have a Cheaper Food Concession, by some other name, operating part of the day; it sold very bad individual pizza (I know the quality from previous years), hot dogs & very decent salads, chicken Caesar & "just green". And coffee. I drank a lot of their coffee. I also brought my own snack food, which is hard when cutting out carbs, & supposedly cuting down on fruit, but I managed.