i open the door —
red squirrel sitting on the deck
continues sitting
NOTES
It is a beautiful, cool but sunny morning, so I walked out onto the deck. As I ambled toward the front yard, coffee in hand, I was startled to see a creature bounding toward me from the road. It was the biggest squirrel I’ve ever seen! It jumped onto the third of the three stone steps that lead to the deck and just sat there, slightly obscured behind an awning post.
I looked carefully and could not tell what kind of creature this was, so I went back inside to get my phone to snap a photo to run through Google Lens. The thing was still there when I returned, so it must be accustomed to being around humans, although as soon as I approached to get close enough for a decent photo, it scurried under the steps.
I have since identified the critter as a groundhog. I changed it to “red squirrel” for the haiku, because I liked the sound of it better. The rest of the haiku is a true story — only the critter’s name has been changed (to protect the innocent?). Oh, wait, the haiku says the squirrel was sitting on the deck, but it was really on the top step. Hmmm… Maybe none of this thing is true.