oh my....

sara turned 27 and we had a birthday cookout for her... but little did we know....

after dinner the 'boys' went to the family room to challenge each other at a football video game... sara and i proceeded to go sit outside where the weather was amazing, rolling our eyes at each other over the commotion of shouts coming from the family room...

time went by and we talked and talked about her upcoming trips, our gardens and what needed to be done at work. the sun was setting and it was so peaceful.

now, let me fill you in about sara.... sara is stubborn, bossy, hates most 2 or 4 legged animals, terrified of spiders and snakes, and thinks she is always right (and usually is), and we just adore her. she's a perfectionist and takes proper care of herself, physically and nutritionally.... loves to read, travel and her favorite movie, well of course, gone with the wind, she is a debutante after all. she's newly married and was so lucky to be able to buy a brand new first home... she's been busy for a year painting and decorating, refinishing furniture... and now it's garden time so she's landscaping... she is never at a standstill and i am in awe of her energy....

being that sara is not really 'rodent friendly', as we were sitting outside, slight breeze, blooming dogwood above us, swaying bird feeder... she sweetly said, "there's a chipmunk on the bird feeder", well it was strange enough that she said it sweetly, being that he is rodent like, but i new, run! she ran after me, we slammed the door and peered through the glass... to our amazement there was some creature (surely from another world, or undiscovered), swinging on the bird feeder, munching down. I being older and not as stupid... told her to grab something long and go turn the feeder around so we could see what this thing was.... she didn't take the bait, instead she said, "YOU DO IT." hmmm...

we watched for at least 1/2 hour and noticed that it seemed to be blowing these white things out of it's side, much like the lizards at my parents house, pushing that guitar pick thing out of his throat as a warning... so we were sure that it was very angry and warning us... i told her that i'd go get the flashlight.... so i pulled out the ever ready, which in my whole life has never been ready; either batteries worn out, missing, dog has chewed one end... and as i suspected, it took a couple of hits to make the weak light stay on... we were able to see that it seemed to have some wing like things.... and that the white thing going in and out and warning us, was simply his stomach, and him moving side to side.... sara said a bat! i said, couldn't be... she said, it has ears!, i said it was creeping me out... whenever it would move we holler out ewwwwww.... after 15 minutes of this the boys wondered what we were up to, but not enough to actually come and see.... but after much more ewww's they came.... i said it has to be a flying squirrel, but i hadn't seen one for many years out back, so it had to be something else... but then i'm not really a nighttime kind of person.....

hubby came and assured us that yes, indeed it was a flying squirrel and look at how cute it is.... i think only he and the other 'boy's thought it was 'cutish'... sara and i were grossed out and as always boys will be boys and thought it was cool....

so i spent some time looking up flying squirrels so that i could add a picture.... well, to tell you the truth, after seeing all of these pictures, i don't think i will sit in the dark anymore...

now the first picture, he could be considered cute.... the 2nd horrific! and now i read that the southern appalachian type are more AGGRESSIVE, and i'm terrified... and i don't know why they didn't use all caps or underline, even highlight that AGGRESSIVE word in the following description...

"The Southern type is smaller than its northern counterpart. It is found usually in deciduous forests and appears to be rather dominant and they are also more aggressive than the Northern type. The animals are characterized by large eyes, prominent ears, and a bushy tail. "

if you ask me, he sounds like a killer creature.... look at those BIG eyes!!! there is no way you can sneak past him....!