In the Pink and Gilbert's Return

Gilbert the Chipmunk is back! He remembered that it's our anniversary!

More about him in a minute.

After a pair of lovely, crisp blue days we're in for stormy weather later. At the Board of Selectmen's meeting last night I heard descriptions of the road damage and flooding on Saturday night. The prospect of more rain is not pleasant.

I decided to capture the garden blooms before they get battered again.

This turtlehead is a mainstay of the garden in September, and self-sows very nicely.



Looking down on sedums.



Mary Rose, one of my David Austin English Roses.



Autumn Damask (The Four Seasons Rose). If I recall correctly, this is a parent or grandparent of Mary Rose, used by Austin in creating her.



My relationship with my chipmunks, formerly so intimate that they fed from my hand, has suffered this summer. I've spent more time at the Big Lake than the Lodge, and when here I'm too busy to hang out with them as much as I have in past years.

But one visitor this morning caught my attention. You'll have to trust me on this, but I'm pretty sure it's Gilbert, the little fellow whose life and limb I saved two years ago.

To backtrack to September 10, 2006 (exactly 2 years tomorrow!), this is how we met. As a baby he got trapped in the mesh of my deer barrier fence. He had many abrasions and one of his legs was severely damaged--as you plainly see.



This is how he got his name, Gilbert Grape.



This is our parting scene, after I nursed him back to perfect health.



This was our reunion this morning.



How do I know it's Gilbert? He has a unique, memorable, and identifiable profile. His nose is extra pointy and poky, and he has a terrible overbite, with a short lower jaw. I've spotted him a time or two since he left my care two years ago.



He very kindly posed for me on the rail of the deck. I took lots of nice shots, but felt this one is worthy of the cover of Chipmunk Monthly.



Or perhaps the debut issue of Chipmunk Monthly, because I don't think it exists yet. If it did, I'd probably be a subscriber!

It's Primary Election Day. I 'll soon be heading out to vote for myself. And a bunch of other people, too. But first, I need to feed Gilbert a few green grapes! I assume he still likes them, though they aren't readily available in the forest where he forages.