Artist’s Rendering.
What? You thought I would be too busy with Kathy out of town to draw a raccoon? Think again. Also - it’s therapy to draw what bothers you.

(Sunday Paper, Year VII, Issue 21)

I recently had a thought that was simultaneously maybe the most ridiculous and most mature thought I’ve ever had.

“I am not going to let that raccoon ruin my summer,” I thought to myself.

This thought marked tremendous growth for me - but allow me to put it into context.

It was towards the end of March, I think, that this thought occurred to me.

And it was prompted, as you might expect, by a raccoon that got a little too close for comfort.

A few of us were sitting in the living room when somebody spotted something moving around outside.

A raccoon had popped out from near the side of our house, crossed the street, and went behind a neighbor’s house. Later we saw it heading back the way it came.

Now, this was no bear sighting, but it was still upsetting to me.

I do not like raccoons. I will take precautions to prevent them from having any occasion to be around (more on that in a minute), but those precautions have just become habit so I don’t ever have to even think about them.

I especially don’t like the notion that a raccoon could be walking past our house in broad daylight.

Because, usually, as you probably know, raccoons are night animals. (That’s probably why they scare me I don’t like them. Something about a night creature is a little creepy.)

My first interaction with raccoons in the suburb where I live was probably the summer of 2005. We had a party at our house and I didn’t pack the garbage as well as I usually do. We also didn’t have the kind of animal-proof garbage bins that the city has since provided that have done wonders for keeping raccoons out of the trash.

But that fateful summer night I looked out into the darkness of the driveway to see multiple (!) raccoons feasting on the food that had been discarded. There was cake, I remember. And corn. So much corn.

The next morning as I swept up those raccoon-handled corn kernels I vowed never to be so lackadaisical with the trash again.

But it’s not just raccoons - one year I’m pretty sure a family of foxes nested in or near our backyard and I would see the mom go off and hunt for food for the little ones, I think. One morning the fox looked different and took off with purpose and I thought to myself, “I think they just left forever.”

They did. We never saw them again.

It was a really amazing connection to nature.

We’ve since redone the yard so it’s more usable by humans and less likely to play home to a fox nest and I’m very proud of it and I enjoy it very much.

Which is why my heart sank when I saw that raccoon.

Because in the past, that might have prevented me from going outside for months.

But, as I told you, I am more mature now, and I think ridiculous thoughts.

So I said to myself, “I am not going to let that raccoon ruin my summer.”

I rationalized - that raccoon took off in one direction and came right back the same route - it was probably getting or looking for food for its babies. It wants nothing to do with my yard. It was just passing by.

(Especially since my trash is well-kept and there’s nothing to be had in there.)

So I will be able to spend the summer enjoying my yard and I probably won’t even worry most days about a raccoon.

(Unfortunately most days my default setting is “just a little bit worried about a raccoon” - in either the yard or the garage, or the shed.)

Besides, there’s plenty of other things to worry about.

Like bears. Or possums. Or mice. Or….

What I’ve Been Enjoying

“Reggatta De Blanc” - The Police
“Little Earthquakes” - Tori Amos
“Yankee Hotel Foxtrot” - Wilco
“Harry’s House” - Harry Styles
When Harry Met Sally
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Nice little unintentional Harry-Harry there.

Notes

*I mentioned in the caption above that Kathy was away this week. It was her first significant work trip in a couple of years. Everything was fine. I’m more capable than I sometimes let on. But after 5 days of 3 separate drop-offs and picks-ups…boy it will be nice to have her back this week.

*I also always think I’ll get more done when I’m by myself. Like, “Oh, with Kathy away I’ll watch ten movies this week.” Nope. It’s always less.

*Also worth noting: First of all, composting is going great. I love it so much and I still highly recommend it. I’d been thinking about writing about it again soon, but at the very least I want to say in connection with this post - we keep our composting inside during the week in a separate garbage can. But as far as putting it out overnight for a collection - that, too, is a sealed tight bin. Pretty good that we haven’t had a single wildlife incident with the composting.

*I forget if I’ve mentioned that I’m enjoying playoff hockey - it’s always more enjoyable when the Rangers are part of it. But oh man, every iteration of the Rangers is frustrating to watch in some way. They’ve lost both Game 1s this post-season in overtime (triple overtime in the first round), which is such a terrible way to lose Game 1…but I always go back to their Cup-winning run in the 1993-1994 season. They lost Game 1 in both the Eastern Conference Final and Stanley Cup Final that year.

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