On Thursday, July 27, 2017 at 7:30:06 AM UTC-10, tert in seattle wrote:
> "Good morning. A squirrel ate the tomatoes growing in my yard, that I had
> been tending closely in the heat, that I had fertilized with a tincture
> of seaweed, that I had put on a table so that they could grab a little
> more sun, that I had talked to because some people believe that helps them
> grow. He was a big fellow with haunted eyes, more dirty-blond than gray,
> with a long, unkempt tail, and he took from me my dream for a no-recipe
> recipe for tonight: fat slices of homegrown heritage tomato sprinkled
> with salt and drizzled with balsamic vinegar, alongside garlic-rubbed
> toast made from my sourdough no-knead bread. The plants are in tatters
> now. Farmers have the hardest job."
>
>
> this can be summarized in 3 words: first world problems
>
> <http://www.nytimes.com/indexes/2017/07/26/cooking/cooking-email/index.html?emc=edit_ck_20170726&nl=cooking&nlid=80 591572>

Okay, it might not be famine, or civil war, or religious fanatics taking over your town, or some horrible killer epidemic, or lack of clean drinking water, or having a crazed lunatic running the country, or lack of electricity, or any number of things. The important part to remember is that for some people, these problems are non-trivial. Tomatoes can be an important part of a nutritious, healthy, and well-balanced, diet. I don't eat tomatoes so that's not me but squirrels with haunted eyes would certainly be a big problem - if I was on the mainland.

When we lived outside of Seattle, we used to feed those little guys. Squirrels amuse Hawaii folks to no end because in Hawaii, we don't have any. It would come into our house and eat nuts for our entertainment. We loved that little critter. A squirrel with scary eyes would just ruin our day! I suppose that would mean it had rabies or some other awful disease.