A Squirrel in a Box That Came in the Mail

It was a Saturday afternoon when I saw our mailman stop in front of the house and get out of his vehicle with a box. As he began the steep trek up our driveway I walked out to meet him halfway, already wondering what was in the box. I knew that I hadn’t ordered anything so I assumed it was something my husband had bought. After exchanging pleasantries with our mailman I headed back to the house and glanced down at the mailing label which was addressed to both my husband and me.

Now when my husband buys something and has it delivered, the package usually just has his name on it. Hmm? The return address was a company name that I had never heard of so that was of no help. Hubby was at work so I called to ask him about it, leaving a message when he didn’t answer. Should I open it? We don’t open each other’s mail but the box did include my name. But what if it was a Christmas present he’d ordered for me and then I’d ruin the surprise? Now I know there are some people, including a good friend of mine, who would have immediately opened it and figured out a way to package it back up if it was a gift intended for them. But I actually like to be surprised and don’t even want any hints when it comes to gifts for me. So I waited to hear back from my husband.

Five minutes later he still hadn’t called and now my curiosity was piqued. I don’t know why I was so obsessed, maybe because this box, a medium-sized one, had just come out of the blue. We don’t get many packages delivered in the mail, our birthdays and anniversary had already passed, so what the heck was in the box? Another minute passed and I thought, well, it DOES have my name on it.

I hesitated for a second after grabbing the scissors with a brief thought of, what if it’s a bomb? Ok, seriously? Who’s sending us a bomb in the mail? I had the tape off in a second and found another box within the box. Another snip of tape and this is what I found.

A cute squirrel! I like squirrels a lot. We live in an area where there are many and they keep the cats and me entertained all day. They have trained me quite well, knowing if they do a trick like climbing the screen doors or heck, just look cute, they will be rewarded with a peanut, or two. (Depending on if they are faster than the magpies or blue jays that also enjoy the peanuts.)

I looked through the box for a note or the name of the sender or an invoice but didn’t find anything. If my husband had bought it, it should have had an invoice/shipping information included. I looked through the box again but no, nothing but the squirrel. Well who sent it? My finely tuned detective skills kicked in, you know, from years of CSI binge watching and I mentally put all the clues together.

*It had to be from someone who had our address.

*Did the sender know how much I liked squirrels or was it just something they thought was cute?

*Was it someone who had been to our house? Someone who knew I kept a bowl of peanuts on a kitchen shelf for squirrel/bird feedings?

*Was it a “random gift of kindness” thing where someone sent me something anonymously? If so, I would probably never know.

*Was it from hubby and why the heck hadn’t he called me back so I could at least cross him off the list.

Then I wondered if it was even for me? What if my husband had ordered it for one of the kids or as a gift for someone else? Well if that was the case, he might as well order another one cause this one’s staying right here. Let’s just see how it looks with a few peanuts in it.

But who sent it? I imagined someone secretly smiling, knowing they had made my day and wondering if I was wondering who had sent it. And you know what? I immediately had the urge to send a little something, whether it be a note or gift, to someone I knew who might enjoy an anonymous something, for no reason, (except for the fact someone was thinking about them.)

In the meantime, I was trying to determine where the squirrel would look best. The most logical place was on the kitchen shelf, next to the sliding glass door, which is where the critters gather every morning. And mid-morning. With a visit at lunchtime and maybe the evening hours.

It looks real, wonder if I could fool the real squirrels?

No luck with any curious real animals but it was about to start raining so maybe they’d taken cover. I bring my squirrel in so it doesn’t get wet (just in case it really isn’t mine and I do have to give it up.)

So finally I hear my husband pull up in the driveway and the garage door open. Finally! (It’s been about an hour now since the mailman dropped the box off.)

Now my husband knows by now that he may get hammered with “conversation” the minute he walks in the door, depending on how much coffee I’ve had that day and whether I’ve actually talked to another human during the hours he was at work. I do try to give him a couple of minutes to set his briefcase down and take a breath but this was not one of those times. I met him in the garage with “Did you send a squirrel in the mail?”

It’s Saturday evening, the end of a long week for hubby and I’m sure he was not expecting that question. “What?”

“Did you send a squirrel in the mail?”

“Did I send a squirrel in the mail? Why the hell, what the hell are you talking about?”

We’re in the house now and I dramatically point to the squirrel. “The squirrel! Did you buy this squirrel?”

“Why would I buy a squirrel?”

Anyway, he obviously wasn’t the sender of the squirrel and didn’t have a clue where it came from. So now I ponder upon if it was a gift from someone and the store forgot to include a note, someone’s going to think I’m rude when they don’t get a thank-you from us. I won’t bore you with the rest of the evening’s conversation which was mostly about the squirrel in the box that came in the mail, especially after we had both enjoyed a couple of glasses of wine.

I’m not going to admit to how long I stood by the sliding glass door the next day, waiting for something to come check out Mr. Squirrel.

After circling a few times, one of the birds decides to check out the situation.

Now it’s doing a bit of squawking…but no reaction from the squirrel.

Getting brave…

Mission accomplished!

Three days later and I still don’t know where the squirrel came from but it has made me happy and I smile each time I see it. And I have found myself being a bit more kind, letting someone in front of me in line at the grocery store, not cussing when someone was in the fast lane going under the speed limit, and helping an elderly gentleman find a “Swifter” at Target because he thought I worked there. Ok, I would have helped the gentleman and let the woman ahead of me in line even if I hadn’t received that squirrel, but the no cussing at the slow driver, well that was something new.

On that third day, thirty minutes before my husband got home, I received a Facebook message from my cousin’s wife that thanked us for our hospitality on a recent visit they made to Colorado, along with a note saying she had ordered a gift for us that should be coming in the mail soon.

Mystery solved!

So the point to my squirrel in a box that came in the mail tale is…I’m obviously not that good of a detective, I might spend a little too much time with animals versus humans, and getting a surprise in the mail is fun! Thinking someone sent me a random gift lifted my spirits and made me want to be a bit nicer. Finding out that it was a token of appreciation was great too. Knowing that the small extra touches we made to make that visit as fun as we could, well it’s nice when those efforts are noticed and appreciated.

It’s now been a week since I got that squirrel in the mail and it still gives me a little burst of happiness when I see it. A kind gift, gesture, note…can go a long way in making someone’s day.