What a busy late summer and autumn it has been! I must have been the busiest squirrel in the forest! I have collected a mountain of nuts: acorns, beechnuts, walnuts and my favourite, hazelnuts. It was an amazing and tasty harvest! I also ate plenty of fruit that were around: strawberries, blackberries, apples and pears. My belly got beautifully round and full.
The weather was amazing, so sunny and warm, that plants created lots and lots of flowers. Then, bees helped with the magic task of turning those flowers into fruit. What an amazing year it has been! Now my pantry is full, my belly is round and I can focus on enjoying the last autumn days before I semi-hibernate this winter. You see, we squirrels don't hibernate like bears and hedgehogs. We spend most of late autumn and winter sleeping and resting in our dens but we don't quite fall into a slumber. We don't put on enough fat reserves in our bodies so we still have to eat sometimes.
Since my storage is full and I'm ready for winter, I decided to enjoy the beautiful moors and colourful trees now. So, I'm dashing around smelling the last roses, admiring heather and eating as much as I can. Autumn is really fun! When no one is looking, I jump into small puddles of water after rain and swing on hazelnut branches.
'Hooray! How amazing is autumn!'
I also collect the most colourful of fallen leaves, soft peat and horse chestnuts to line up my den to make it more cosy and pretty. Oh, how I love decorating and tidying!
Anyway, before I start a resting season to recover from all the drama and running around this year, I must visit my friend Alex. I bet he will not expect me! A short moment later and I'm already at his door. I'm fast, I know!
Knock, knock, knock.
'Hmm, nobody's coming to the door.' I said out loud. 'Could he be away? Let me knock on the window!'
Sure enough Alex came to the door after my gentle knock, looking a bit sleepy. He smiled when he saw me and hugged me really tight. What a welcoming and lovely human he is!
'Let's have a cup of hot chocolate!' suggested Alex.
'Lovely!' I responded and rushed to the terrace where we always sit whenever I visit.
'Oh, but it's starting to rain,' hesitated Alex. 'We will get wet on the terrace.'
'Nevermind, what a lovely autumn shower it is!' I commented, 'Let's enjoy it.'
'Let's stay in this time and keep warm.' insisted Alex, visibly cold.
And so we did. My friend told me about his autumn adventures.
'My papa and I went mushroom picking in the nearby forest. It was straight after the rain and it was still quite warm so there were lots of mushrooms around. We picked hips of penny buns, birch boletes and saffron milk caps. We were mighty pleased with ourselves as we would have a delicious dinner with them that evening.' said Alex smacking his lips.
'Yuck! How can you eat those mushrooms?! I only like fly agarics and they are so beautiful, too!' I commented.
'They are beautiful and highly toxic to humans, so I steer clear of them, safely admiring them from a distance, hahaha.' laughed Alex.
'Oh, I see.' I said surprised.
'Anyway, once we had our baskets full we decided to stroll through the green forest which smelled of earth and trees. It's when we saw the elk. It was huge and its antlers were enormous. It looked somewhat scary but it had a very soft gaze. The elk looked at us for a few seconds and then, majestically walked away into a dense thicket.' concluded my friend.
'Wow, what an amazing sighting!' I sighed with a hint of jealousy.
'I bet you see them all the time!' responded Alex.
'We don't actually. We squirrels probably rush too much and we avoid dense thickets as many of our predators like to hide there.' I commented adding 'I better get going! Thanks for the delicious hot chocolate and sharing your stories.'
'What a pleasant surprise your visit has been!' said Alex concluding our afternoon together. 'I thought I wouldn't see you until spring!'
'Well, this is my last visit this year, actually.' I confirmed, and hugged him saying goodbye.
What a heartwarming visit that was! It's time to retire to my den now for my winter rest. It will surely restore my energy before spring when new adventures and excitements await me. I'm so thrilled about spring coming back with leaves, flowers, fruits and so much sun and light. Truly, I need to rest first before I'm ready for it all again.
