A few weeks ago I dropped a couple raccoons off down the way. Ok, that sounds weird. But we caught them in a live trap. Them. A momma and her baby, all at the same time. They seemed pretty sweet. Raccoons look so cute no matter what they’ve done. They never once hissed or reared their heads at me in the cage. And at no fault to them, they (the momma and her 3 babies) had been sampling some cat food. Don’t worry, the other two babies got away.
I headed down the hill in the dark, waiting for daylight savings to change the scene and making my way to another substitute teaching job. I found a good spot for them. Where there was water and what seemed to be plenty of habitat. I look for them ever time I pass that spot. Even though most times when I pass it’s during daylight hours. I don’t really expect to see them but I look anyway.
My parents are in Antarctica right now so the mountain is mine to lord over. Chickens, water, firewood, deer, sunrises, cats, incessant scrub jays, bats, apples, acorn woodpeckers, pileated woodpeckers, chores skies, flowers, wild horses, wild pigs, dark-eyed junko’s seemingly by the hundreds and squirrels searching for the last walnuts.
Today is my birthday. 37 years on this planet. Today is red pants, good beer and some punk ass kids. Society might measure me by the job, the house, the spouse, the kids and not by my Life’s experiences. I don’t measure up. I don’t fit within The Box which most people build their lives. They use this Box to construct the world around them. So and so “has more experience”. They’re talking about The Box Experience. I have something way better. But those in The Box can’t see that. To quote Brittany Maynard, “The world is a beautiful place, travel has been my greatest teacher…”. I bring that world to my classroom. Thanks to those in The Box, I continue to not have a job and I get to keep adventuring. It’s these experiences that make me an awesome teacher and real person, present to the everyday gifts around me.
Journey Return 