Cheese, Crackers, & Squirrel

Last week, the weather was nice enough for me to get the grill out of it's winter slumber and put a little fresh meat upon it. I know what you're thinking, given the title of this post, but you're wrong. You have to keep reading.

Ellie was so excited to have some nice weather, that she came out to the backyard to play while I cooked. She ate some cheese and crackers on her little picnic table, and all was well with the world. But soon, that would all change.

(That's me back by the shed getting the grill out by the way. I didn't notice me at first either) We ate supper like normal, but afterward we decided to go back outside and get some more play-time in before dark. So Ellie and I were in the backyard running around, going up and down the slide, swinging and chasing each other. That's when it happened. Ellie looked at the ground and saw it. She looked at me with a face that was half surprise and half terror. I said, "What's wrong Honey?" That's when I saw it. It was a dead squirrel lying in the grass. It was pretty gross really.

Ellie said, "Is that a squirrel?" I of course said it was. "Is it dead?" she asked. "Yes, it is," I replied. "Let's go play in the front yard," I said. That was about all, until we went to bed. We hadn't even talked about the squirrel, and Ellie says, "Daddy, I'm going to put my gloves on and pick that squirrel up, make it alive, and put it back in the tree with its mother." I didn't really know how to respond. I thought it was pretty funny, and very sweet. But I just told her that once something's dead, it can't come alive again. She didn't understand that very well. But that's ok, I didn't really know what to say either. Explaining death to a 3 year-old isn't too easy.

But the good news in all of this? The pork chops I made were outstanding. And really, it's all about the food. I'm just glad it didn't taste like squirrel.