Today was a berry beautiful day.
I woke up early and jumped on the sleepy-guy train, heading downtown.
When I arrived at the mall, I found myself staring up at the rump of a ginormous reindeer.
There were more humungous reindeer further down the mezzanine. Can you find all three in this picture?
I wandered around the shops, trying to find a gift for my work's Secret Santa exchange, but everything was too damn expensive. I gave up and stopped in a café for a cup of jasmine tea. I wish this photo was scratch-n-sniff because the tea smelled heavenly. I worried when I found something green in my chocolate cake slice, until I remembered that it was a chocolate zucchini loaf.
I coveted some crazy stockings.
Then, bored with shopping, I bought a package of raw, organic almonds and walked to Queen's Park to share them with the squirrels.
Queen's Park was abuzz with activity. The CityTV crew was there, getting all their tech in place for tomorrow's Santa Claus parade. A young beardo was walking around, carrying two huge, furry microphones, muttering numbers into them. Employees with "Security" jackets stood around looking cold.
I found a bench and began handing out almonds. I think I had around six squirrels in attendance, but it was difficult to tell them apart. The most aggressive one was black with a white tip on his tail. I kept trying to explain to him that I had plenty of nuts to go around, but he felt compelled to continually chase the other squirrels away. As soon as he turned to chase another invader, the one he'd just dominated would sneak back to me.
It was interesting to see the squirrels' competing drives of hunger vs. fear. When I held out a nut, some squirrels would run straight at me, and then, passing an invisible boundary, would, without slowing down, make a tight U-turn and run away again. I had to pitch overhand to get nuts to my shyest customers.
Eventually I started getting cold and hungry. I was down to the bottom of the bag. I started eating the almonds myself. The squirrels hung around, staring at me. Finally a very energetic dog ran into the park, and started flipping out, like:
ERMERGHEEEEEEERD! SQUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRLLLLLZZZZZ!!!
And that was pretty much the end of the nut party.
11 comments:
GREAT pics, Spark! Looks like a lovely day. And those stockings are very cool.
What a neat outing. Thanks for the wonderful pictures. What I see on the internet will be the most of my holiday decoration viewing because it is doubtful Ron and I will get near any glitz and glamor of the season this year.
I can see where it is wise to court the squirrel menace as one day you may be in a position where you need their favor... Sounds like a lovely day ;-)
I would be so scared to be in a park with you! I don't like squirrels! But I love giant lit reindeer! Glad the green was zucchini, not mold!
That was a fun walk through the mall with you. I think you could pull off those stockings. :)
DarcKnyt: Thanks! It was exactly the kind of day I needed; wandering around, doing fun stuff, without any time pressures or worrying about anyone but myself. Every once in a while, a Me Day is the best medicine.
Granny Annie: Toronto is well into Christmas decorations by now. If I see enough interesting displays, I'll do a post just for you!
Ron: I believe that they will accept me an a useful ambassador when they have completed their world domination plans.
Jameil: You don't like squirrels? Is it an all-rodents-are-creepy kind of thing? I have a friend who despises all rodents, and every once in a while I forget and try to tell her about a cute hamster and she gets the heebie jeebies.
Lynn: I asked my husband which stockings he liked better, and he said he would want one leg in each pattern. Now THAT would be some crazy legs!
Thanks for the Sunday afternoon chuckle.
I'm still not ready for Christmas yet and I'll probably won't be until mid December.
Loved the set of photos. The reindeer look excellent in the mall.
So you were feeding the squirrels with nuts whilst I'm feeding mine with rat poison. Outside they maybe cute, inside in the loft, less so. ;D
What a lovely day! That tree! Oh my goodness, so beautiful.
I think the heart stocking are so you! Just a touch of red to really sparkle. :D
Glad you had such a nice day, being out and about. :)
Where you live looks very pretty and interesting. Love the pics on the sleepy guy train. :) The stockings...I would have been coveting them too! I'm sure the squirrels thank you for the lovely almonds.
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