Day 3,705—Summer Stories VIII: Baby Raccoon! —

Today, it must have been at least 4 or 5 of them that I saw scatter in every direction when I was running towards them. At first, I thought it was a bunch of squirrels, which would be odd because I had never seen a group of squirrels hanging out together, but once I got closer, I saw the mask-like fur around their faces. One was up a tree, holding its breath and hoping I wouldn’t notice. I hope they all find each other again. 

Yesterday, I was outside hanging out with my two kids for over an hour, and it was pretty great to see the youngest pushing his little lawnmower around. My daughter was using her scooter and going back and forth on the driveway. My wife brought out watermelon and we all ate under the blue sky as the daylight began to dwindle.

25 Years ago, I was in Turks and Caicos with my family. My older brother was going to high school and it was my first year of 8th grade. So I was 13 and my brother was 16. I remember eating pizza and watching the movie The Beach with my older brother at 2 a.m. There was not a lot to do but this pizza place was open 24 hours and Ben and I spent most of our time playing pool and complaining about the pool sticks. I think we had some time of tournament we put on. I remember there was a vending machine that sold Cuban cigars. I remember smoking one on the last night and getting sick. How did it take me so long, to stop smoking cigars?