September 21st: Asking Squirrel if he wants to come with me

"Squirrel", I said, as I put some peanuts in the shell on the railing, "I've been thinking about things a little bit. As you know I'll be leaving next week", I said, trying to figure out how to say this. "Well, I thought I'd ask if you want to come with me?"

Squirrel had just picked up a large peanut as I said that, and now stood there holding it. "Wow, Al, that's really nice of you to ask. There have been a few other people in the cabin before, but nobody has ever asked me that before", he said, with a little squirrel-tear forming in his eye.

"Well, I didn't know if you'd want to come with me, but I thought I'd ask. You've been a good friend to me this summer, and I will miss you. If it helps to know it, I think I'm going to go to San Francisco first. I'll have to go through Canada, then Washington, Oregon, and finally into California. After that I'll drive back to Kentucky."

"Gosh, Al, that all sounds like fun", Squirrel said, but then paused. "I've been thinking about it too. I was really hoping you would ask -- and I'm so happy that you did -- but then as I thought about it, I realized this is my home", Squirrel said, looking around at the forest. "This is where my friends and family are, the summer's here are beautiful, and although it gets cold in the winter, I love the wintertime here, too. It gets really quiet in the winter, and once the snow starts everything turns white. When the snow gets deep enough we slide on the hills, and sometimes on the roofs of the houses. There are a lot of hills here for humans too", Squirrel added.

"I think I'd like that one day Squirrel, but for now I just want to travel a little more, finish writing my book, and then find a home of my own, and get back to work."

"I understand", Squirrel said, "Everyone should have a place they can call home. Maybe one day your home will be here, or maybe it will be somewhere else. If you decide not to make Talkeetna your home, I hope one day you will come back and visit, and we'll catch up on each other's lives."

"Yes, I'd like that", I said.