Little Rascals

Church out, all a bit stir crazy, we want to find a close mountain lake to dabble our feet in during informative gospel discussions.   Problem.  Briz and I can't agree on where to go.  I give in.  We drive and drive and drive and drive.  My blood boils after the first hour.  Looks like we're in for a rough outing today.  I am keeping my mouth shut but I WANT TO GO HOME RIGHT NOW and have a nap.  We stop at a few places.  Place # 1 has groomed grass.  How is that mountain retreat I ask you?  Place #2 has no cover, just sage brush and rocks leading to the reservoir.  Place # 3 looks promising.  Briz and the kids get out.  There are tattooed beer bellied dudes in wife beaters lounging every 10 feet.  An abandoned baby screams under a towel, Retrievers bark and chase.  I roll up the window and plan activities to do with the family this summer and try not to think longingly of my bed.  No one can stand it.  Back to driving.  Place #4 is supposedly shut down.  Does that stop us?  No it doesn't.  We park on the road and hike through the brush to a river running into Jordanelle. 

Briz pops up some chairs.  

The girls, tired of answering my "What would you do if" questions, waste no time creating a dam, then happily dive in.  

Hours of happy giggles reach our ears as we talk, rest and I read up on how to incorporate more love into my parenting.  

I look up and see a small face looking a me.  No, make that 3 small faces.  

Wary, but  curious, they snuffle over to my feet, try a shoe lace, then find small pieces of apple core to munch.  

Twenty minutes later, after much crooning and clicking, the little girl climbed up my leg and into my lap.  She decided she liked snuzzles.  So much that when we finally called the girls over (after 1/2 -1hour of our own private fun) she dove down my shirt to safety. 

We reveled in the soft pads on their little hands, their pungent musky odor, and natural curiosity.  The littlest figured out how to unzip Briz's pocket to obtain a granola bar wrapper.  

Less than 3 months old, they are not nocturnal till 11 months old.  So while their mother sleeps in their hollow tree, they get into a lot of mischief.  

We all longed to bring them home with us.  But we realized it would be wrong on so many levels. Of course, when I saw that raccoon pets and breeders were all over the internet, I rethought it for a minute.  But only a minute.  In intelligence tests, raccoons unlocked 11 of 12 complex locks in under 10 tries.  They retain solutions for over 3 years.  I hate to think what they'd do to the pitiful child locks on our cupboards.  

Rascal was the handsomest with a dark black mask, yet he was the most fierce.  When I reached down to touch his soft fur, he sunk his teeth into my finger.  I let my hand hang limp in his teeth to let him know I was no threat and soon he warmed up so much he rolled over on his back for a nice nap between Briz and my chairs.

We must have played for close to 2 hours. 

Parting with our new friends was traumatic.  Little Rascal (the big boy) looked up at Briz with a pleading puppy dog look that about melted his heart.  They tried to follow us, so finally, we grouped up and took a run for it.  They stayed close to their hollow tree and will have quite the adventure to tell their mother.