Cortita

   On my daily walks around Stow Lake in Golden Gate Park, there are many wonderful things to see, hear, smell and touch, generally in that order of importance to me. I generally walk the same loop, around the lake and Strawberry Hill at around the same time daily (early morning), and often see a lot of the same people there, most of whom I recognize. Wildlife, too, are regulars, and of all the squirrels that I see daily, there is perhaps only one that has been easy to recognize, and I have named this squirrel, "Cortita". Also referred to by a fellow walker there as "Shorty", the stub of a tail is what makes this creature memorable, and for me makes it easier to empathize with. I used to call this unique resident of the park Cortito (a slang for short in spanish), but figured out later that it must be female, as I saw it gathering what appeared to be material for a nest one day, and read that this is generally the job for the female western gray squirrel. The uniqueness of Cortita (note the "a" ending connoting female in the spanish language) has allowed me to recognize when I do and do not see her on my walks, and this has given me the mental space to create a kind of imagined life for her in my head. When there have been periods of time that I don't see her, I've wondered where she was and if she was alright, and then when I'd finally see her, I would be very happy, and I found myself kind of rooting for her survival, and perhaps for her to even flourish in her short life. 

   It's been a few weeks now since I've seen Cortita, and I even asked the walker that calls her Shorty if she'd seen her, but she said that she hadn't. I imagine that Cortita is no longer alive, and I miss seeing her.