For a mental break today, I sat in what might be described as a cross between a lounge and waiting room at work, and stared out the plate-glass window at an old tree. I think it is an oak tree, but without leaves, I really can’t tell (and even with leaves, the chances of me correctly identifying a tree in England are virtually nil). As I sat there, sipping my tea, a squirrel bounded onto the tree, and perched on a branch. A few small birds fluttered around it – darting to and fro from twigs, occasionally pausing to peck at something (or rub their beaks, it was hard to tell).

The squirrel seemed quite oblivious to the birds, and started a train of thought. Is the squirrel male or female? Is it happy? Is it eating that nut for pleasure, or because it’s hungry? (Probably the former, animals don’t seem to eat for pleasure according to a foggy memory.) Do the birds even factor in to how it views the world? If they do, are they a threat (probably not, unless a kestrel?), a hindrance, or just something that exists?  Does a squirrel know it exists?  What is its view of the world like? What’s it like to have a tail? Will it survive to this time next year? Why that tree, and not another tree? Why a tree at all? Why isn’t the squirrel moving? Why did it just move? Where did it go?