Jungle Gymnastics

It is another hot muggy day.  I sit in the air conditioning.  Outside the morning activity in the back yard picks up.  I think I will take the turtle for a spin in the warm today.  He loves weather like this.

Outside

The entire back yard

Has morphed

Into jungle gymnastics.

One squirrel has found a stick.

It amuses him entirely.

He throws it in the air

And catches it.

Another squirrel

Lures him away.

They leap and chase up one tree

Down another,

Then

Back to the stick.

A chipmunk has found

The perfect rock

To survey his tiny world

In the sun

With chipmunk eyes.

Yesterday a bunny rabbit

Claimed the middle of the lawn

As his,

Chewed grass,

Cleaned his ears with his front paws

Almost exactly

Like the cat.

In the obstacle course

That is my back yard

The animals are amused.

Sometimes at night

We hear raccoons scream,

Or even catch an opossum waddle

On its tiny possum feet.

He bares his teeth

If he sees us.