A lunch story for the birds. Or, more appropriately, the squirrels and rats.

So, story time with LJ. Background: it's lunchtime. I'm not very hungry for some reason, and I woke up late (gah - that is another story I'll need to write about soon, remind me) so didn't have time to pack a lunch. It's 1:00 and I know I should eat something other than the pack of organic trail mix Martha gave me (very good, by the way) or I'll be cranky by the time I see my parents and Dave and Cathy for dinner (they're here!). So, I leave the office and start walking, thinking of where I can go and what I can get. Solution: I completely forgot there was a McDonald's in the Med Center across the street - a Fruit and Walnut Snack would be perfect. Also worth noting is that it is a beautiful day.
So I walk over there, get my snack, and go sit outside at a little table/bench thing. I get through mixing my walnuts into my yogurt and dipping in probably 3 grapes and 2 apple slices when I realize that a squirrel has popped up on the bench at my table right across from me and is circling around the benches and clearly coveting my fruits and nuts and devising a squirrely plan. So I go into attack mode, trying to get him to 'shoo' and Squirrel just won't be scared off! I actually thought he might jump me, to be honest.
And so I'm thinking, I so do not need to fight a squirrel right now (not that I wouldn't if necessary, I did take RAD training in college afterall), nor do I feel like forfeiting my long-debated snack to a vicious rodent with fire in his eyes. So I gathered myself up and walked inside, grabbed a napkin, and looped back out and he was gone. Phew. I sat back down at my same spot and began to enjoy the fruits and nuts (and yogurt, can't forget the yogurt) once again.
Wellll. I'm obviously on the alert for rodent theives now, and I start glancing around the little bush-tree-grass area next to me and I see a RAT. Literally, a rat, not a "rat with a bushy tail" as some people refer to the squirrels. EWWWWW. This is the Medical Center - isn't that unsanitary or something? I saw a rat there once before, too, and one time one jumped into a trash can right in front of me over by the Divinity School, so apparently we've got more rodent ish here than anticipated.
And then, after shuddering a bit at the thought of the rat (really quite harmless, he was just grubbing around), I looked up and saw the squirrel, with a look of death in his eyes. He was doing that little click-clack-squeak thing that squirrels do sometimes and beating his bushy tail against the top of his head in a very menacing way.

And I said PEACE and got the heck out of there.