Squirrels and Lobsters

Squirrels and (Red) Lobster : two things I don’t get in France.

The only squirrel I have seen in France to date was a little red fellow I spotted on the Paul Valéry campus in Montpellier. I seem to track these creatures at universities : when visiting colleges up North with Mom late in high school, I spied the rare black squirrels on the Haverford campus and have yet to see that variety anywhere else ; at Harvard I was more mesmerized by a squirrel who squatted peeling a small citrus fruit than by the university surroundings. (I guess even the squirrels at Harvard are geniuses.) At Bryn Mawr, the squirrels were decidedly on the plump side. I’m sure they thrive on the pizza crusts and apple cores of college women.

I passed up the chance to live side-by-side with such exotic varieties of squirrels however, and settled for the (more economical, closer-to-home) squirrels at UNC who’re pretty much identical to this good old gray guy you see splayed on his belly on our roof here at home. I took this picture the other day when I noticed a squirrel behaving oddly on the roof outside – he’s flattened himself out and is peering down, probably to the birdfeeder below.

Today was Dad’s birthday, and he and Mom and I went out to Red Lobster for dinner. This is a photo of Mom’s shrimp platter.
We must have had about 4 different people waiting on us and asking if everything was all right – a great change from France. I can't tell which system I prefer - that in which you're ignored by a surly waiter or the one where your server comes by every five minutes and gives you the bill before you've ordered dessert. There must be a happy medium neither culture attains, but I do think "service compris" is a great idea.