Antigonish, or there's no there, there!

We bet you may remember a poem many children learn that ends like this:

Last night I saw upon the stair
A little man who wasn’t there
He wasn’t there again today
Oh, how I wish he’d go away...

Now, substitute deer flies for the little man and we're pleased to report they seem to be slowly fading away. At least the dogs have been a little less bothered the past day or two.

livetrap chipmunk "two-fer"

Photo by J. Harrington

Have you been taught that one of the hardest things to see is what isn't there? We learned that some time ago. Then, just today, we realized we've seen almost no chipmunks around the house this Summer. That's a far cry from a couple of years ago when we ended up translocating something like 15 or 16 of the little, striped rodents. The dogs have been sniffing around the front stoop as if one might be burrowing under the steps, and we caught a quick glimpse of one in the back yard a week or so ago, but that's been about it. Maybe the word got out among the chipmunk clans?

Other than that, we've not much to report today unless we comment on state or national politics and we just don't want to go there. Most days these days we can only conclude that alien mother ships are bombarding the United States with some ray that makes large portions of the population excessively venal, short-sighted, greedy, xenophobic, racist, and stupid. Or, perhaps many people have always been like that and the rays are finally enabling the rest of us to see them as they are. We'll not settle that this afternoon nor do we want to spoil the weekend debating it. Instead, watch a chipmunk scamper away from a livetrap.

Antigonish [I met a man who wasn’t there]

Hughes Mearns

Yesterday, upon the stair,
I met a man who wasn’t there
He wasn’t there again today
I wish, I wish he’d go away...

When I came home last night at three
The man was waiting there for me
But when I looked around the hall
I couldn’t see him there at all!
Go away, go away, don’t you come back any more!
Go away, go away, and please don’t slam the door... (slam!)

Last night I saw upon the stair
A little man who wasn’t there
He wasn’t there again today
Oh, how I wish he’d go away...

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