Viaggio Note V040901 Urban Zoology

orcmid> viaggio> V040901> 0.00 2004-09-12-16:38 -0700

It is easy to think we are somehow removed from nature in our urban and semi-urban settings.  Nature has a way of filling in around and among human habitations and every so often we are given a glimpse and a gift.

Will work for cherries	2004 July 3.  One July morning in 2003, I walked out onto our West Seattle front porch to find out what all the rustling noises were.  Across the fence in the neighbor's yard, I could see the swaying branches in their cherry tree.  As I watched, I saw this sumo-proportioned raccoon struggling out the branches in search of the ripest cherries.  I wasn't sure whether the raccoon would win or the branch would give way and deposit her largeness on the neighbor's lawn.      This year, as our oldest son, Doug, was visiting, I was called to the back yard of our house to see who was visiting our cherry tree.  This little fellow was learning how to work the cherry crop while keeping a wary eye on the curious human below.   We left the timidly-determined character alone to feast in solitude.