Rummaging in the Free-box...

Last night Raccoon stepping out from behind the telephone pole. Late Night. The end of a wedding day. Out of the corner of my eye i see you. Movement in headlights. A bushy tail. Pudgy waddling body. Two ringed eyes meet mine an instant before returning to the ground. 

You moved back toward the pole. But you were headed in the direction of the "free-box." Did you have shopping to do? Were you looking for bits of candy bars forgotten in pockets? Do you regularly rummage through the the little shack of treasures, bins of clothes, shelves of old appliances, constantly revolving baby toys & swings & paraphernalia that rotates throughout the community via a dearly loved free-box?

We are like you, the Two Leggeds of this town. Eagerly stopping at this potential treasure-trove on our way to town by the light of day. Having a look in the clothes bins. Scanning the shelves.  Poking around in the  nooks and crannies of this 24 hour outdoor free-market. Looking for exactly the treasure we are in need of that day.  Do you try on the hats, slip paws into shoes in your meandering? 

In that instant of recognition, I wonder at your telling costume and your destination.  I wonder at your nightly foraging, the treasures you seek, your place in the 11 pm darkness downtown. You doing the work by night that so many do by day. Perhaps it's not the free-box that you are seeking this evening. Is it the dumpster that is directly in your path?

Rummaging. Have we left you no dignity? Only our trash as your treasure while we inhabit what was once your home? Or have we added treasure to your life. More from which you can pull and offer generously to your clan. 

I wonder what  it would be like to be Raccoon. A rather adventurous life, if i weren't living near hostile humans. So many laughing, tumbling adventures, so much generosity.  What would it be like to live in a community where each person offered their best to another. All of our best tumbling out and offered up until it was almost a comedy of generosity. I imagine the delight.