I walk outside and look at the sky, pleased to not see any stars. Rain is predicted, though even I can see from the radar that it will have dissipated long before it reaches us. But my lilacs, as drought tolerant as they are, are showing signs of heat stress. It’s a beautiful hedge and I don’t want to lose it.
So I am out after dark to gather up the hose and water my lilacs before the heat of tomorrow’s sun sucks the moisture back out of the soil.
As I walk along the hose looking for the end, I hear chattering coming from the windbreak. I stop to shine the flashlight and see two bright green marbles glowing back at me. Eyeshine.
“Raccoons! We have raccoons!”
I yell, and my husband comes running.
“Where?”
“There. This side of the windbreak. It just went into the corn.”
He grabs a broom and a flashlight and is off, running up the hill toward the raccon.
Toward the raccoon that came out of the corn.
Toward the raccoon that is still chattering.
Toward the raccoon that is walking rather nonchalantly toward him.
He freezes and my throat catches. I want to scream for him to leave it. To just come back. That if he can catch it, he doesn’t want to mess with it.
But he just stands there and I just stand there and the raccoon just keeps walking toward him. Everything is in slow motion, except it’s all happening too fast to react. He finally breaks the silence.
“It’s . . . the cat?”
My mind doesn’t quite comprehend.
“He has a mouse.”
And I start laughing so hard I can scarcely breathe. No wonder the dogs weren’t the least bit interested.
I homeschool my children on a small hobby farm in rural Nebraska and write about life more abundantly, from the joy of a baby's smile to the almost unbearable grief of losing a son while seeking beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, a garment of praise instead of the spirit of despair (Isaiah 61:3)
YOU SCARED ME! Shame on you, Dana.
)
Hey, imagine how I felt standing there in the middle of the night watching it all happen!
That is hilarious! Thanks for sharing.
That is a great story! Especially the part with your husband running out with a broom and not a gun. We have raccoons and opossums that come to our door for the cat food and chicken food when it gets left out. They can get really nasty if they are not ready to leave. Glad it was just the cat.
I laughed out loud. And then I realized I’d been holding my breath. Brilliant, Dana!
I tell ya, this country living stuff isn’t for wimps. If you keep poultry, you’re called on to chase after all manner of critters in the middle of the night. The one that still gets me is the mocking bird that sounded like a chick screaming in the middle of the night and had me sure my chicks were under attack.
It scared the kids, too. When I suspect critters at night, I shout, “Hey!” The mocking bird picked that up and would yell, “Hey!” at the kids from the windbreak and they were sure someone was in there!
that was really funny…oh I so know those critters are funny.
This story made me laugh. It also made me crave even more a more rural lifestyle. I keep ‘checking in’ with the Lord to see if it is time to move from our little ‘urban estate’ but He keeps saying ‘Not yet, my child…’ I look forward to the day when raccoon pests and the like are the types of pests we will need to deal with instead of drugs, loud music, and police sirens.
Lol- thanks for the laugh!
I LOL. Great storytelling.