“America has a kind of kidding culture, so sometimes young people have no place to go with serious ideas, even Anne Frank complained about her family’s endless round of jokes. Kidding leaves a child with a slightly nicked feeling. It’s hostile.” — Carol Bly

One of the big events in my life occurred last week as I was walking downtown or at least what’s left of downtown when I noticed a squirrel with his or her mouth filled with leaves just standing there glancing at me. This was the first time I ever saw a squirrel with a mouth full of leaves. Then he or she proceeded to climb the very high boulevard tree gradually moving around to the other side as she or he climbed up to a nest under construction.

I didn’t get to see the squirrel spit the leaves out after she climbed into the nest. Then he or she came back down and ran up to the house on the house side of the sidewalk where she gathered another mouthful of leaves, then ran back and up to the nest perhaps wondering about this old guy watching this. Then, the squirrel went back down and across the driveway next door and around the corner out of sight.

I waited.

Within minutes, she came galloping back to the tree, stopped, looked at me with a quizzical look and then climbed again and unloaded that bunch as I finally moved on.

About an hour later, I came back following the same route and saw the same squirrel running again from the corner yard across the street with her mouth filled with leaves with the same destination in mind.

Why I’ve never seen this happen before in my life is beyond me, having growing up with a yard of oak trees. Of course, back then we were in constant motion. We did have a hammock then that I used that was tied between two of the oak trees. There was no nest building as the squirrels probably preferred the woods — more leaves.

The squirrel I saw last week accomplished some fast home building compared to the progress on the new justice center. I’m hoping I will still be around when the job is completed and by then maybe something will be done with the aging ruins on Main Street, not to mention what will be done with the existing jail.

Will they put new televisions in the new jail or move the televisions from the old jail to the new jail? This might interfere with the continuity of some of the soap operas.

I’m hoping they will transfer the officer statue over to the new justice center, but then what will they do with the parking lot. It won’t be big enough for all the human service people to park that are currently housed in the walking mall.

Or will they get to park in the parking area that by then will be standing perhaps on the site of the old George’s Pizza place? There is always a chance that block may not come down, and perhaps the Tower might then be salvaged and maybe a statue of Clarence Nybo could be built to honor his service to youth.

I do have to wonder why so little is being said about what specifically will have to be done to the second courthouse built in Austin. I hoping the new jail will diminish any chance of prisoners jumping from a window like they did in the current jail. Maybe there won’t be windows.

I suppose the county commissioners will have to give up their present area in the current ‘justice center,’ the one not quite inaccessible to most residents who might want to sit in on meetings while the majority of the county citizens are working. It’s always good to see the robins return again, and I always think that spring likes to fly in with them. I’ll close with words of James Agee: In every child who is born, under no matter what parents, the potentiality of the human race is born again.”