Joe - Both Audio and Text - W-Illustration

This was a long time ago, but a wonderful period in our lives. We named a few other wild critters as well... He never seemed uneasy when he’d spot us at the window, but checking intermittently, he’d watch us like a hawk. It puzzled us to contemplate how anything so chubby - so unprepared for danger, and with such an awkward walk - Could live so long and look so well. And when he tried to run, we couldn’t help but feel concerned to see him move so slow. And almost every morning…as the sun was coming up…we’d try to make the time to check the whereabouts of “Joe.” The first time that I saw him was about five years ago, and I’m not sure exactly when we named him Joe, or why. While standing at the picture window, staring at the woods, this tiny, bushy waddler caught the corner of my eye. “Look at that,” I whispered softly - worried he would hear - “a little baby groundhog’s out there…basking in the sun.” I remember clearly wondering where his folks could be, and - seeing that he looked defenseless - hoping he could run. Joe was not a real big fan of cloudy days but knew on sunny ones the morning rays would flood our tiny lawn. We really loved to watch him take advantage of the freshness…wallowing in the beauty and tranquility of “dawn”. As the years went by we found the strong, consistent nature of early morning creatures, like ourselves, would meld a bond, And taking peeks to see if Joe was waddling through the sunshine soon became a ritual of which we were truly fond. Sometimes only Connie saw him…sometimes only me, but both of us would let the other know when he was there. And I remember several days when he was strangely absent - despite the perfect weather - and it gave us quite a scare. As he grew, he only waddled harder, and I swear…even in my sixties I’d have easily chased him down. How he’d made it through the years, surviving in the woods we built our little cabin in, about a mile from town, Always has amazed us ‘cause we’ve often spotted coyotes and wild dogs that - as you know - will hunt from dusk ‘til dawn. Naturally, our anxiousness grows harder to ignore as we prepare to one day learn - our Joe, at last…is gone! It’s been about a month now since we’ve seen our old companion. It snowed last week, so we prefer to think he’s - gone to bed... And the other groundhogs that we’ve seen are simply - running late… and spring will bring him back to us. He simply can’t be dead! PS: I've now got 4 new Audio-CDs - @ 4 1/2 hours each = (62 diversely varied pieces). They’re listed on EBAY - under - “Mark Stellinga Poetry” - or available by simply contacting me at -- mark@writerofbooks.com -- should those of you who enjoy listening to poems as well as reading them - and particularly those of you that travel - care to be so entertained. (We use safe and simple - PayPal) There are a bunch of my pieces on YouTube as well --- Cheers, Mark