Photo of the Week: Patriotic Squirrel
On Memorial Day, I found myself walking by the VA hospital in Manhattan. I stopped to take photos of the flags decorating the elevated lawn of the hospital grounds. I snapped a few photos from different angles. Then I saw a squirrel. Because of the height of the ledge and where I was standing, I was slightly weary -- if the squirrel had come too close to the edge he'd be in my face. An Italian couple stopped to "ooh" and "ahh" at the squirrel and began feeding it. It checked them out for a bit before grabbing a treat they'd thrown at it in the grass and ran away. I continued to take photos of this scene. Then the squirrel looked at me, stared at me. I stared back. The Italian couple continued to try to lure it back to them with more treats. The squirrel dropped it's treat and became very still. I raised my phone again and snapped a few photos. I chose to believe he saluted me, saluted all the veterans on that Memorial Day.