Raccoons & Reading
Late last night as I was coming home, I saw a raccoon clinging to the base of a tree at the corner of my street. I stared at it (sorry, I don’t know if it was a male or female rac), and it stared back. I think we could have had a lengthy stare-off, but I then it occurred to me that, because it’s not a good idea to look directly into the eyes of a strange dog (this could be misinterpreted as aggression, you see) and because raccoons are distantly related to dogs, perhaps I shouldn’t gawk at it too long, lest it leap at my face like a furry, enraged Muppet on a pulley. The raccoon began to make this strange sound, which unfortunately I cannot describe adequately. I wasn’t sure if it was warning me or saying “I’m a lonely, lonely raccoon. I’m sick of eating putrefying meals left in unopened Tupperware that thoughtless apartment dwellers leave on the grass” or “You do look kind of fat in those pants.”
It’s really a moot question because it’s at that point when I stopped staring at the raccoon. Still, the experience made me aware of how little I understood my fellow creatures in my neighbourhood. (This includes the sobbing, blaspheming women and enraged men who use the payphone in front of the corner convenience store.) I want to read about raccoons now. I don’t think anyone has written a cultural studies book about people who use payphones.
Speaking of reading (is that like saying, listening of writing?), I would like to hear from the two people who will stumble accidentally upon this site in the next week (it’s my fault for not posting for four months) to recommend good reading, in particular short stories. Writing that features rich characters and/or an intriguing plot… And if the stories reveal any insight into the mind of the raccoon, all the better.
Posted on September 10, 2003 08:58 AM