rainbows and raccoons
on our way back from getting hot apple sundaes with matt and sara at the east coast custard in fairview, we drove through the rocky river reservation of the metro parks and justin spotted a rainbow. he took us up to a lookout point for a better view of the rainbow, and when he opened the sun roof we suddenly saw not one but two rainbows, parallel to each other. i was kicking myself for not having my camera. just before we left the house i had taken it out to upload the newest blooms in our yard and hadn't put it back in my purse. doh!
a handful of cars and suvs, teeming with elementary-aged kids hanging out of the windows, had pulled into the same section of the park to watch the rainbows, too. as the rainbows faded, we were all distracted by a raccoon scoping out the trash. the cans were mounted to a post and elevated, but the raccoon shimmied up the post in between them to survey the contents. he found his objective but couldn't reach it easily; we held our breath as he gradually lowered himself further and further into the can until all we could see of him were his rear claws, tethering him to the rim of the can.
and then he popped back up, mcdonald's bag in his mouth, and hopped to the ground to enjoy his dinner. either he ate the paper or someone left behind a ton of food; it took him quite awhile to get his fill before he finally headed back up a tree. as we pulled out of the park, another raccoon eyed us from the edge of the trees, perhaps wondering if we had left anything behind for him.
i wanted hans to be there, strapped into his seat in the back between sara and me. i wanted to show him rainbows and raccoons. all of the youth spilling out of the vehicles around us pressed in on me and gave me a headache. and it's not that i resented them for being young and alive, or their parents for having them. it's just that i wanted hans to be there, too, dammit.
jamie and janet had their baby this week - benjamin, who looks just like jamie. benjamin would have been another friend for hans. i'm surrounded by all of these babies that would have been his peers - emma, charlie, jay and now orson and benjamin. what a waste that hans will never know them, and vice versa.
a handful of cars and suvs, teeming with elementary-aged kids hanging out of the windows, had pulled into the same section of the park to watch the rainbows, too. as the rainbows faded, we were all distracted by a raccoon scoping out the trash. the cans were mounted to a post and elevated, but the raccoon shimmied up the post in between them to survey the contents. he found his objective but couldn't reach it easily; we held our breath as he gradually lowered himself further and further into the can until all we could see of him were his rear claws, tethering him to the rim of the can.
and then he popped back up, mcdonald's bag in his mouth, and hopped to the ground to enjoy his dinner. either he ate the paper or someone left behind a ton of food; it took him quite awhile to get his fill before he finally headed back up a tree. as we pulled out of the park, another raccoon eyed us from the edge of the trees, perhaps wondering if we had left anything behind for him.
i wanted hans to be there, strapped into his seat in the back between sara and me. i wanted to show him rainbows and raccoons. all of the youth spilling out of the vehicles around us pressed in on me and gave me a headache. and it's not that i resented them for being young and alive, or their parents for having them. it's just that i wanted hans to be there, too, dammit.
jamie and janet had their baby this week - benjamin, who looks just like jamie. benjamin would have been another friend for hans. i'm surrounded by all of these babies that would have been his peers - emma, charlie, jay and now orson and benjamin. what a waste that hans will never know them, and vice versa.
posted by laura at 11:29 PM
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