The Trees Are Alive ...

I mentioned that our enormous, more-than-100-year-old black walnut tree (not oak, my mistake) in our backyard had lost some 20 feet (or more ) of branch, long-term damage from the October 2006 storm, a few days ago. The residents of the tree appear to be going strong.
The squirrels who live in that tree, by all indications, live active lives. The most notable part is their daily daring of Walker Evans to come chase them; they hit the ground and saunter away from the tree, and when Walker is put outside, he always madly chases them, but as of yet, has never caught one of them.
It is humorous how the squirrels not only seem to bait him, but also bombard Walker with black walnuts from up in the tree while he is in the backyard, including once in a while when he is assuming his poo position. The squirrels also target Walker when he is outside with us when we are cooking out.
Last night, Val and I were cooking out, and we brought Walker outside, as he all but begs us to do. Only one or two squirrels actually sent black walnuts his way, but you could hear them eating very loudly and moving about in the tree.
I wouldn't be surprised if Walker is planning his next squirrel operation right now.