As days go by.

Outside, I kept her in a box perched up on a hand rail and out of harms way. After a couple weeks at most, she was getting bigger, more healthy and definitely frisky. I always talked to her and called her name before I disturbed the box. Often she would come out from under her blankets in anticipation. She was always eager to climb into my hands to get her feeding. One day I had the back door open so the Izzy the dog could come in from her morning meandering. The birds were singing and the morning air was warm here in the Willamette Valley, I sat at the desk in my kitchen working on the computer. It was getting to be late morning and it was past time to feed Freida I had just thought to myself. Finally I was at a stopping point, as I pushed my chair back and stood up I was startled by something running across the middle of the floor towards the refrigerator. Oh no it was another chipmonk! What in the world, how, another baby chipmonk in my house non-the-less, where did it come from? I was standing there contemplating the dilemma of how to get a chipmonk out from under my fridge. I had visions of it chewing the wiring in half. Izzy is coming in the back door with her nose down to the ground like she was sniffing a trail and she followed it into the kitchen. Just in the same moment that chipmonk comes out from the near side of the fridge on a collision coarse with the dog nose to nose both startled. The dog stood there looking down, the chipmonk stood there looking up like it was a choreographed meeting of the three stooges. As the chipmonk looked up at me dumbfounded I said "Freida???" She came right up to me, I could not believe it, it was Freida!!! I just reached down and picked her up. Freida.



She had never even left her box before today, let alone left her box perched up high on the handrail, down the post, across the back porch, down the stairs and in the back door, across the Kitchen. When I had stood up from the desk I think now she was coming across the kitchen floor to see me and possible climb up my leg- saying "hey, where's my breakfast!" I probably would of had a coronary if I felt something unexpected clawing on my leg. What a feat for sweet little Freida. Maybe a coincidence or maybe she was pretty smart for a wild little critter. I was so proud of her!