Joining Del on our back porch for our pre-dawn chat, I heard a rustle in the downspout. Del explained that he had heard an animal, probably a chipmunk, in the gutter and then heard it slip into the downspout.
I suppose she was exploring. However, she appeared to be stuck because we could hear her slide further and further down the spout.
Most downspouts empty onto the top of the ground, but this particular one ends inside of a garden and has a cover at the end, so we knew we might have to take the downspout apart to rescue her once morning arrived.
Has this ever happened to you? You were happily exploring life, noticed something interesting or enticing and slid down into a life-hole, slippery, dark, and enclosed.
I know that I have, more than once.
Morning arrived, we took the downspout apart, and Miss Chipmunk was no longer there. We marveled at her creativity, trust, and patience to be able to climb back up that dark, slippery spout to find her way out
Looking back on my life slides, I can see that I did sometimes climb back up and out on my own, and sometimes people came along and took the problem apart for me so I could be free.
We could say, “Well hey Miss Chipmunk, what were you thinking, don’t go exploring those places that you don’t know about.” Yes, perhaps she will never try out a downspout again. However, what would life be for a curious chipmunk if she didn’t continually try new ideas and places?