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I admire my little brother. He is an independent young man and an amazing artist.
After graduating from La Junta High School in 1998, Cody Miell moved to Denver to attend the Art Institute of Colorado. He has been in Denver ever since, living on his own, supporting himself and showcasing his talents.
My parents should be proud of the child they raised. But maybe the one life lesson they forgot to teach him is the little things in life (those that are physically smaller than a human being) can’t really hurt you. It took him over 30 years to figure it out.
Now you have to understand, Cody is a giant in our family. Standing over 6 feet tall, he is huge compared with others in both the Miell and Montanez families. (I think Calvin is going to give him a run for his money in the height department, but only time will tell.)
So when Cody told us of his recent encounters with animals — we laughed so hard imagining this grown, giant man’s reaction to a goose and a squirrel.
The part of Denver that Cody lives in is within walking distance of many things, including friends’ houses. One day, Cody was walking home from a friend’s house and he said he saw what he thought was a UFO flying straight at him. Wings straight out, only a head visible — Cody said he had no idea what it was. Until it kept getting closer and closer and closer. Flying right past Cody, he finally realized it was a goose and said as it passed right next to him, he could only start swatting his hands.
Well, maybe swatting isn’t the right word. When he showed us what he did, it brought tears to our eyes. Imagine, a 6-foot-tall man, standing in the middle of a parking lot, flapping his arms as though they were wings and making his own honking sounds to scare the goose.
We imagined a scene right out of Angry Birds — diving at whatever target was in its way.
The goose would stop, he said, and he would start to walk away and the bird would be right there again ready to attack (actually it was defending its nest). So Cody would have to stop again and repeat the bird procedure and try to get away again.
He finally made it past the bird and made it safely home. I’m sure if you look online, there has to be a video somewhere.
Thinking his animal encounter days were over, Cody went on with his life. Until just recently. A few squirrels live around Cody’s house and each morning he opens his blinds and watches them as they run across the outside of his house, by the window and up the next tree. It has become a ritual.
One night — a night when the temperature dropped quickly as soon as it became dark — Cody arrived home from work and saw, from the corner of his eye, a little squirrel run past his window. It wasn’t unusual to see the squirrel, he said, but it was a little odd that he saw one as it was getting dark. He started to unlock his door and saw the squirrel again. And then he realized, the squirrel was in his house.
Cody quickly opened the door and started his search. Having accessed the house from his chimney, he quickly blocked that escape route.
He saw the squirrel again and started to shoo it out the door. Well, the squirrel had other plans and made its way behind the couch.
Cody admitted, although he probably will deny it now, that he is a little afraid of squirrels. He grabbed items throughout the house and created a barrier that led the squirrel to the front door. Having looked how to remove squirrels from your home online, Cody learned squirrels are attracted to light and it suggested leaving a door open to encourage the squirrel to leave.
Don’t forget, this is about 6:30 p.m., when it’s pitch black outside, in single-digit degree weather. So, Cody does what he is told and opens the door hoping the moonlight will draw the little critter outside. He said he sat on his couch waiting, shivering, waiting and shivering and the squirrel didn’t move.
In fact, he said, it just started barking at him. I had no idea squirrels barked. And he imitated the barking noise.
Defeated, Cody just went to bed and figured he would deal with the situation in the morning.
When he woke up the next morning, he said he grabbed the broom he had carried into his bedroom, gathered up enough courage, threw open his bedroom door and charged at the tiny, little squirrel yelling as loudly as he could and using the broom to shoo the squirrel out of the living room.
His life in Denver has been animal-free for a few weeks now, but these stories will live on forever.
I admire my little brother. He is an independent young man and an amazing artist.
After graduating from La Junta High School in 1998, Cody Miell moved to Denver to attend the Art Institute of Colorado. He has been in Denver ever since, living on his own, supporting himself and showcasing his talents.
My parents should be proud of the child they raised. But maybe the one life lesson they forgot to teach him is the little things in life (those that are physically smaller than a human being) can’t really hurt you. It took him over 30 years to figure it out.
Now you have to understand, Cody is a giant in our family. Standing over 6 feet tall, he is huge compared with others in both the Miell and Montanez families. (I think Calvin is going to give him a run for his money in the height department, but only time will tell.)
So when Cody told us of his recent encounters with animals — we laughed so hard imagining this grown, giant man’s reaction to a goose and a squirrel.
The part of Denver that Cody lives in is within walking distance of many things, including friends’ houses. One day, Cody was walking home from a friend’s house and he said he saw what he thought was a UFO flying straight at him. Wings straight out, only a head visible — Cody said he had no idea what it was. Until it kept getting closer and closer and closer. Flying right past Cody, he finally realized it was a goose and said as it passed right next to him, he could only start swatting his hands.
Well, maybe swatting isn’t the right word. When he showed us what he did, it brought tears to our eyes. Imagine, a 6-foot-tall man, standing in the middle of a parking lot, flapping his arms as though they were wings and making his own honking sounds to scare the goose.
We imagined a scene right out of Angry Birds — diving at whatever target was in its way.
The goose would stop, he said, and he would start to walk away and the bird would be right there again ready to attack (actually it was defending its nest). So Cody would have to stop again and repeat the bird procedure and try to get away again.
He finally made it past the bird and made it safely home. I’m sure if you look online, there has to be a video somewhere.
Thinking his animal encounter days were over, Cody went on with his life. Until just recently. A few squirrels live around Cody’s house and each morning he opens his blinds and watches them as they run across the outside of his house, by the window and up the next tree. It has become a ritual.
One night — a night when the temperature dropped quickly as soon as it became dark — Cody arrived home from work and saw, from the corner of his eye, a little squirrel run past his window. It wasn’t unusual to see the squirrel, he said, but it was a little odd that he saw one as it was getting dark. He started to unlock his door and saw the squirrel again. And then he realized, the squirrel was in his house.
Cody quickly opened the door and started his search. Having accessed the house from his chimney, he quickly blocked that escape route.
He saw the squirrel again and started to shoo it out the door. Well, the squirrel had other plans and made its way behind the couch.
Cody admitted, although he probably will deny it now, that he is a little afraid of squirrels. He grabbed items throughout the house and created a barrier that led the squirrel to the front door. Having looked how to remove squirrels from your home online, Cody learned squirrels are attracted to light and it suggested leaving a door open to encourage the squirrel to leave.
Don’t forget, this is about 6:30 p.m., when it’s pitch black outside, in single-digit degree weather. So, Cody does what he is told and opens the door hoping the moonlight will draw the little critter outside. He said he sat on his couch waiting, shivering, waiting and shivering and the squirrel didn’t move.
In fact, he said, it just started barking at him. I had no idea squirrels barked. And he imitated the barking noise.
Defeated, Cody just went to bed and figured he would deal with the situation in the morning.
When he woke up the next morning, he said he grabbed the broom he had carried into his bedroom, gathered up enough courage, threw open his bedroom door and charged at the tiny, little squirrel yelling as loudly as he could and using the broom to shoo the squirrel out of the living room.
His life in Denver has been animal-free for a few weeks now, but these stories will live on forever.
