Pavia, the scampering squirrel who owns the patio!
Last fall when Sister Lindsay and I moved into the Canterbury Apartments at the beginning of our Church mission, representatives of the management company in the office told us in glowing terms about all of the standard features and benefits associated with the rental unit we would be occupying at 2 Pavia Court.
Because our apartment is on the ground level, we also have a "full-size patio", which is a non-descript concrete slab that measures 5 feet by 9 feet that is directly underneath the balcony of the unit above us. The terms and conditions of our lease in conjunction with the Baltimore fire code precludes the use of any type of cooking grill on the patio. We would never consider placing a couple of lawn chairs in this area, because they would in short order silently disappear under the cover of darkness.
As far as we can determine, the patio serves only one purpose . . . it becomes an artificial lake about two inches deep for a short period of time every time it rains hard. When this occurs, we can position our dining room chairs just inside the patio door and and gaze intently as we watch the water level rise. Playing some nice music while this is happening adds to the ambiance of the occasion. For the privilege of having waterfront property on an interim basis, we pay an extra $20 each month!
No pets are allowed inside our building; however, what Canterbury Apartments didn't tell us when we signed our leasing agreement was that the rental price also includes a squirrel who actually owns the aforementioned patio. Said squirrel is afraid of no one, and he visits his patio many times every day for long periods of time. He likes to scamper across the dining room window sill frequently and climbs up the window screen just for the fun of it. I've nicknamed the squirrel "Pavia" after the name of the court where we live.
Before we realized this furry rascal's possessive territorial nature, Sister Lindsay requested that I purchase a hanging basket with a lovely blooming fuchsia plant, which I installed with a metal bracket onto one of the two sturdy wooden posts at the front edge of the patio that support the upstairs balcony. That's when the trouble began. The very first day after the hanging basket was in place, Pavia scampered right up that wooden post, pounced into the basket, and starting digging around looking for nuts that he had never buried there.
Now squirrels are not known for their super intelligence (they have a brain about the size of a pea), and they are terribly forgetful. Back home in Carolina, I have watched squirrels dig in the ground (and my flower boxes) looking for nuts in the same place day after day. Even though we have tried to discourage Pavia from getting into that hanging basket on many occasions, it has no effect on the squirrel whatsoever. What's left of the poor fuchsia plant is hanging on for dear life, while the squirrel is hanging on every chance he gets and having a wonderful time while he is doing it!
By the way, the photo used in this post shows Pavia in his favorite pose spread out on the patio watching us in the apartment watching him. We're just the tenants here . . . he owns the place.
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