This pudgy squirrel makes me happy, not just because it has its eyes half-shut as it savors that dead bit of foliage, not just because it’s quite ready for a long winter with all that extra padding, but especially because it’s found a way to plunk down its butt and haunches against part of the trunk while munching away. As the winter was beginning (here in Chicago, it can begin weeks before this photo was taken), this critter had just found its happy place, literally and figuratively, with its comfort food, its padding, and its well-rested butt.

December 7, 2019. Nikon D7100 (DX sensor), Nikon 100–400mm lens at 360mm (35mm equivalent: 540mm), f/6.3, 1/250, ISO 800.