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June 25, 2007
Rocky Raccoon checked into his room
So I went home to visit this weekend, and what was I greeted with but a raccoon in the garage. For lack of a better term, my parents have a raccoon problem.
You can barely see him there [look to the left of the bin with the maroon lid], but that raccoon was holed up in the garage all weekend. He wouldn't leave. I tried to scare him out with loud noise and banging on his hiding place with a hockey stick, but he was unfazed. This was the calmest raccoon I'd ever seen.
Raccoons love to go into the garage because there is lots of cat food in there, and if they sneak in they cause all kinds of problems. Some of these were on full display: piles of raccoon poop, a foul stench, and, oh yes... raccoons! Finally, despite all the prodding, our raccoon friend ate his fill of cat food and then strolled out sometime Sunday morning.
There are definitely a lot of raccoons hanging around my parents' house. So much so, that we live off a road called Coonpath Road. Once, a rabid raccoon was snarling at me, so my dad went out with his shotgun and dispatched the critter. It wasn't pretty, but I think if the thing has rabies, he probably did him a favor. So you see, the raccoon in the garage must not have heard that story, because he was operating in there with impunity.
Because it's Lancaster, here's the obligatory Mt. Pleasant picture:
Finally, on the plane ride over, I was reading the in-flight magazine. It has a section where it publishes reader traveling tips. Usually they are pretty handy, but this one left me feeling sort of skeevy:
Really? Are you kidding? This suggestion is wrong on so many levels, the most obvious of which is why would you where you nasty clothes on vacation? You'd look like a vagabond in all your pictures, and they would probably have sweat stains, tears and other nastiness.
Furthermore, there's the idea of throwing out your old clothes. Now I've never worn something with the intention of throwing it out, but that implies a certain amount of sloppiness to me. Sure, I'm kind of sloppy anyway, but this is taking it to an extreme. You can spill hot sauce on yourself and not care, you can be lackadaisacal while using the bathroom, and you are free to sit in bird poop. I'm sorry, but I'm not to the point where I care that little about my appearance.
Yes, room for souvenirs is a nice bonus, but it is my opinion that is why they sell bags all over the world. I am more than willing to sacrifice having to lug clothes back with me in order to preserve my dignity.
entry no. 891
Posted at June 25, 2007 09:59 PM