I stood on the cabin deck watching the critters on the slope below, where they scrambled about, doing their work. After a while I pulled up a chair to the railing and watched some more. Squirrels and chipmunks had found the recent offering I’d made, seeds scattered in the little neighborhood as though from their heaven.

For several days I’m enjoying the mountain air at the family cabin in the High Sierra, over 8,000 feet in elevation. It’s cold this week, and the animals are no doubt storing food in their winter homes.

Right away I noticed that two species of small animals were present there, and I remembered the name of one, because of the many times my children and I had studied about them in the nature guides; any time our yearly camping trips took us to these Sierra Nevada Mountains, we would encounter them. The Golden-mantled Squirrel is the larger of the two, and the smaller is the chipmunk, likely the Lodgepole or Sierra Chipmunk.

Even after they discovered the seeds, the chipmunks spent time in the middle of the gooseberry bushes, hidden from view but making the branches rustle and sway. They must have been eating the dried remains of the berries. And the chipmunks especially like to play chase over and around the boulders, occasionally stopping for a second to tempt me to take their picture. I did get one blurry shot including both species.

Other than watching their fun, I’ve been taking in the cloud show that is ever fascinating, and I succumbed to the requisite first-day-at-the-lake nap. I’ve already thought of more things I want to share here, from my thoughts and observations, so probably you will hear from me again soon.