Getting stink eye from unhappy raccoon...

Nothing ever happens around here...

Excuse me for just a moment...

I sat down a few minutes ago to craft this week’s masterpiece...and managed to get a sentence or two out of the way when I heard a clatter out on the front porch...

With flashlight in hand, I looked out the “front” door, which is really on the side of the house...but that’s another story...

Hmmm...what I saw definitely did not look like the “outdoor” cat which The Other Half befriended early in the pandemic. She calls her feline friend Momma Kitty. 

Momma Kitty likes to eat. So we put food, and water, out for her. Probably might not be considered the wisest thing to do, but The Other Half has a very big heart. So, Momma Kitty gets to keep her belly full.

Some other critters like the “cat” food on the front porch, too. Two of them showed up Monday evening while this little gem was being composed.

The critters looked suspiciously like raccoons. Perhaps that is because they were raccoons. They were enjoying a snack. 

I opened the front/side door, with the idea that the noise might send the raccoons on their way. Goal achieved. Sort of. The raccoons moved off the porch...then they stopped...turned around...and looked at me. One even attempted to climb back up on the porch. 

I made more noise. I am pretty sure that the raccoon which was attempting to return to the porch gave me the stink eye. I don’t know if I’d ever been given a stink eye by a raccoon. Oh, well, it was Monday...

Let’s see...where was I?

Oh, yes...

Nothing ever happens around here...

That frequently heard observation filtered through the dust between my ears last Saturday morning after a journey to the big city for what proved to be an unsuccessful attempt to acquire some more “insulation” for our humble abode.

“Insulation,” in this case, is how we refer to the rather large number of pre-read and pre-owned books which occupy a fair amount of our space. 

When it comes to used books, I’m afraid your writer is a bit like a moth drawn to a bright light. To be honest, we don’t “need” any more books. Just like a person does not “need” one more square in that chocolate bar. 

Anyway, I like to go to used book sales. I often visit used book sales at Stinson Memorial Library in Anna. And, until that little pandemic thing that has been going around, I also liked to go to used book sales at the Carbondale Public Library. (Actually, the sale takes place in a building next to the library.)

A book sale was scheduled last Saturday at the library in Carbondale, so I made plans to go. Got my Saturday morning chores done and then headed north.

As I got closer to the library, I noticed the street had been blocked off. Emergency services vehicles were parked along the street...with their lights flashing. What appeared to be smoke was rising over the neighborhood where the library is located.

I turned and drove down the street, about a block away from the library. That was when I caught a brief glimpse of water pouring from a hose atop a fire department’s ladder truck. 

I determined that under the circumstances, the book sale would just have to wait. The folks who work to fight fires don’t need any more traffic around. It turned out there was a fire...in two houses right across the street from the library.

I headed back home, driving south along new Route 51. At one point, I was in a rather lengthy line of traffic. A minivan passed me. I glanced in the rearview mirror. A small black car of some sort quickly filled the mirror...and it passed me, too. 

Then, after passing me on the left, the car, which I am guessing was traveling at a speed just below the speed of sound, zoomed around the previously mentioned minivan.No big deal...except that the car passed the minivan on the shoulder on the right side of the highway. I hadn’t seen that happen before. Then again, I’d never had a raccoon give me a stink eye...

Excuse me...again...they’re back out on the porch...

Nah...nothing ever happens around here...