A conversation with a chipmunk and other weird encounters with wildlife

So I was walking to the office of my graduate advisor yesterday and while walking on the path, I noticed this tiny chipmunk sitting on a log. Ok, so no big deal to some, but I stopped in my tracks. He/she didn't move, and stared right at me. It felt like a staring contest, it went on much longer than I would've ever thought. This guy had something to say to me. I kept expecting him to scurry off in panic. Nope. Just stared and stared and stared. I had to smile at all this. For one thing, this guy was cute as hell and another thing, he was ballsy for a little squat. I have no idea what we communicated to each other, but he didn't move until I told him I had to go- I started walking and off he went.


When I was heading back to the dorm a few hours later in this wicked snowstorm (I'm in Southern NY finishing my Master's degree), something caught my eye. I see this red northern cardinal on a bush close by. He doesn't seemed to be phased at all at the wind and blowing snow. Again, I had to stop and check him out. I had wondered if he was the same guy I'd seen trying to crack into the library window on campus. I keep seeing this crazy cardinal trying to get into the library. What does he think he's going to find in there- enlightenment and a guide to picking up chicks? More likely he'll find a bunch a wacky-haired Bard undergrads putzing around in their academic angst. I could only watch in for a few seconds, as it was colder than a witch's tit and I could barely see. So I keep walking for awhile, and sure as shit, I look up again and he's across the road looking at me again. Weird right? Or is it just ridiculous notion of connection to NY woods and their nutty inhabitants? All I know is these critters make me smile, feel good and want to see more of their kind. With so much going on in my life right now, I'll take that.