I put the sheep skin on the edge of the little wooden foot bridge and sit on it. I take off my boots and fold my legs under me.
In front of me, the rest of the bridge and the path leading into the woods. On either side, the stream, low but still moving.
Water flows around rocks creating shimmering patterns and textures on its surface.
The sun, just over the tree tops, moves slowly, reaching through the branches and leaves of the marsh bushes, glowing a fern and dazzling the watercress. It sparkles the patch of water that looks like crosshatching, and lights up the moth’s wings as they flutter through it.
A mosquito hangs in a slip of light, its wings like the blur of a hummingbirds. For the first time in my life I see a mosquito as an angel rather than a pest.
There are so many birds, I hear them but don’t see them.
There’s a kind of clicking sound downstream that reminds me of the chickens cleaning their feathers.
A noise upstream makes me turn my head.
Through the tangle of branches I see a head bend to the water. At first I think it’s one of the sheep or even a donkey slipped through the fence. The head looks that size and shaggy.
A very big fox, I think to myself, remembering a gray fox with wild eyes that Jon and I saw once at Old Bedlam Farm.
He turns his big reddish-brown head and we look at each other. I see the black mask around his eyes.
A raccoon….can’t be….he’s as big as Fate.
The raccoon turns away and walks across the stream. I see his long, bushy brown and black ringed tail.
I sit stunned, questioning what I saw, knowing something about raccoons I hadn’t before.
(Thanks to Kathye, who gave me the idea to meditate by the stream).
Wow
According to AI Claude:
Raccoons in upstate New York tend to be on the larger side due to Bergmann’s rule (northern animals grow bigger). Adult males typically weigh 8–20 lbs, with large males occasionally reaching 25–30 lbs. Females run a bit smaller, usually 6–15 lbs.
Body length is generally 24–38 inches including the tail.
Exceptionally large individuals — sometimes called “super raccoons” — can exceed 30 lbs, though that’s uncommon and often tied to easy access to food (suburbs, farms, garbage).
Were you freaked out? I think I would have been.
Oh interesting about the super raccoons Judy, I hadn’t heard of that. I’d say that is what this one was. And he would have plenty of access to food from farms.
I wasn’t freaked out by it, not sure why, Jon asked me the same thing. I was just really curious. It seemed almost unreal.