Earl the Squirrel

Bolting through the picket gate like a wild horse set free, my fiances’s daughter Maddie takes off towards the flower garden. Her mind moves faster than her feet can, mismatched shoes creating a small stumble in every step, she likes to dress herself. Two dirty blond pigtails bounce like antennas from the top of her head. She’s the conquistador of our backyard and the garden is new land,
Maddie begins by following the crush stone path as it winds through the garden circling the ceramic fountain centerpiece. But it’s limits cannot bind her. Soon bored, she r into flower beds, Queen Ann’s lace entangling in her tiny feet before I can catch her. Laughing and pointing at so many new things with only one name. With each discovery of a different looking plant her eyes would widen and with a puzzled face she’d exclaim “look Kelsey look, flower , flower flower”. I had to laugh myself. Everything was a flower, the grass, the weeds, even a plastic windmill wedged between two cornerstones.
She moved quickly through the garden, spending just a few seconds on each new thing, as if she feared they would vanish. Her eye caught the neon glow of Tiger Lilies in the distance and she was off again. The long stemmed flowers hung just over her head. In fascination she looked back at me saying “up pleeeease?“ I hoisted her onto my hip, grabbing the flower she pulled it closer, peaking carefully inside as if it were a unexplored cave. Then leaning forward she reached for one of the more distant flowers. At that exact moment a squirrel launched from within the flowers, scampering at my feet. Grabbing my arm she buried her hear in my shoulder, more confused then scared she looked up at me and asked “Puppy?” Laughing I tried to explain the difference between the two. “No that’s a squirrel Maddie” She looked at me blankly and then repeated “Earl?”
Pleased with her new discovery she renamed all the same flowers plants and even our puppy Angel “Earl”. I can’t understand how and why she sees things the way she does. But her excitement to me is worth more than anything and her adventures have become my own.