Last night I went to bed very late, because I knew I didn't have to get up for work.

As I was falling asleep, I heard a scratching, coming from the built in cupboard, next to my bed.

Our house was build in 1916, and at some point someone finished the tallest parts of the attic and put in this chest of drawers and two cupboards right into the wall. 

Good concept, poor execution, because they didn't finish the back. 

The cupboard, is deep and opens right into the wings of the attic; you can see the roof, and a little bit of daylight, where the insulation ends.

I asked Mark to check.

He went downstairs and got an oven-mitten and a flashlight and slowly opened the cupboard door. 

There was nothing there.

We went to sleep, only to be awakened again at 3:00am and 4:45. 

I banged on the door, and barricaded it shut with my sewing machine and the trash can.

At first I was thinking rat, which was horrifying, but then I changed my mind to squirrel, because of the nature of the scratching.

When I worked for the yogic school we had a squirrel problem in the house where the nuns lived.

They were horrible pests, running through the walls and on one occasions busting through into the kindergarten room.

One tiny paw, sticking through the plaster, in a black power style salute.

This morning I asked Mark to look again and he said there was no poop (which rules out rats!), but there was the beginning of a nest, with pieces of insulation.

My plan is to blow dry the insulation back out of the cupboard, to create a hostile environment, then trap the squirrel, using the trap my neighbor lent me this morning.

I can then drive the squirrel five miles away, and release her.

I can't do any of this until this stupid snow melts, because driving is currently impossible.