(good thing I didn’t name this daily delights.)

we have a woodchuck. the first time i saw her, i didn’t know what kind of rodent she was. sort of non-descript, really. no flashy tail, no special ears, nothing to differentiate her nose or feet. but bigger than a chipmunk, that was for sure!

then nate sent me a text with a pic: we have a woodchuck!!! (aka groundhog)

she has tunneled a home under the shed.

we’ve named her petunia.

some days when i come home, petunia is gallumping across the driveway to dive in her hidey hole, after having dug around in the flower bed.

and i’ve caught her chomping away at the leftovers in the compost pile (good for you, petunia).

so when i came home one day and saw my vegetable garden in disarray, i was dismayed. would this be the end of petunia? do i need to google how to get rid of woodchucks? install a fence only to have her tunnel under?

not only was the garden in disarray, but my baby honeycrisp tree had the leader broken off, hanging by a thread. that night i had a dream that it completely got bent over and i cried in my dream. i didn’t know i had such attachment to the tree.

but the next morning nate looked at the tree and said, there’s no way that was petunia. that was a deer.

stupid deers. continue to be a menace.

so i put some deer repellant (and other garden eaters will stay away) around the garden, and i still have to attend to the tree, but for now, petunia remains in her cozy tunnel under the shed and occasionally gallumps across the driveway when i come out the door or drive in.

after all, says nate, woodchucks were here first.