if you leave it open, they will come.

Sometimes when I am cleaning over at camp I find interesting things. Often I find clothes left from the rental groups, pillows, phone chargers, books... one time I even found a glow-in-the-dark Rosary. Recently, however, I have found things in the Lodge that are not so lovely to stumble upon. A few weeks ago I found a dead bird in the bathroom. While I felt badly for the little fella, I jetted out of that bathroom and ran down to the office because I was so startled. With the help of my cottage girl friend, we laid the bird to rest... in the dumpster.

Nothing could prepare me for my most recent cleaning experience in the Lodge. I was sweeping in the lobby and I see a squirrel run right in front of my path. It freaked me out a little, yes, but I wanted to know where he was going (since I had to clean up there) so, I kind of followed him down the hall. He reached a dead end and then ran right for me. I jumped up on a bench so he would pass by and then I gave up and, yup, you guessed it, ran down to the office to my bold friend once more. The girls in the office came upstairs with me, but we couldn't find my furry friend. One of the girls noticed there was an open window in the hallway that had no screen. (And open windows and doors here at camp are like a green light for wildlife). We figured, of course, that is how he got in and now he has figured to go back out that way. I apologized for the false alarm and went back to cleaning.

While cleaning in one of the shower rooms I really thought I heard a noise other than the vocal stylings of Jason Mraz on my iPod. That stinkin' squirrel jumped out of the little trashcan and ran down the hallway. I flipped this time, and ran down the hallway. Unfortunately the squirrel was running the same direction I needed to go, so I found myself running with the squirrel right next to me. No thank you! Anyway, I got the girls once more and we went to fight the squirrel once and for all. (I had no plan of action, which is why I got my friends). Finally, he was trapped in one of the bedrooms and my friend shut the door to lock him in. The room was luckily near the fire escape, so we stood on the stairs and opened the window from the outside. Within seconds, the squirrel discovered his way out and wasted no time. But this is what was so amazing to me... This squirrel jumped out of the window and I am not kidding you, flew at least 20 feet before he landed on the grass, 2 stories below. I have never seen a squirrel jump that far! And he just ran away, seemingly unscathed.

This may be totally uninteresting to you, which I understand, but I am telling you, in my sometimes monotonous life of cleaning, this was kind of a big deal. :)