The following week the column featured nothing but letters of protest from readers saying that employing such a deterrent was inhumane and cruel. Some readers wrote of other, harmless ways in which squirrels could be deterred. Another suggested that considering the immense damage humans do to the environment everyday, the damage done by a squirrel digging a few little holes in a lawn in order to store a few morsels of food was positively insignificant. And furthermore, maybe certain human beings need to concern themselves with more important matters.
The next week the regular collection of household tips was back, but right beside it was an article on the subject of how to safely and humanely keep squirrels from showing any interest in your lawn and gardens. The short, well-researched article with quotes from gardening experts offered a good selection of tips to keep squirrels away.
The blurb at the bottom of the article noted that the writer was a local freelancer. Very smart, I thought. Right on the ball. The writer saw an opportunity and went for it, and for her trouble was published and paid.
Of course, I could be completely off the mark. After receiving a mailbox full of letters of protest the editor might have seen the need to address the issue more formally and assigned the topic to a trusted freelancer.
Either way, an opportunity presented itself in which the writer could provide needed information and education, help keep city squirrels out of harm's way, and get paid. Not a bad deal.
The say opportunity only knocks once but I don't believe that. I think opportunity knocks once in a while. If you're not ready it moves on to the next person, the person who is ready, the person who recognizes the opportunity for what it is and seizes it. Oh, it will come back to your door - someday. You never know exactly when. That's why you always have to be ready.
If you're sitting around dreaming about that great thing you want to do, chances are when opportunity knocks you're going to have to take a pass. You haven't done any of the preliminary work. You haven't taken the course you needed or got started on that degree. You haven't worked out a budget so you can save that little extra bit each week you need to buy art supplies. You can't seem to get around to writing a page everyday toward your novel. You won't free up an hour of television time each evening to go to the gym, or read a book, or practice your guitar.
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