Songs From The Woods

The journey begins...

For some time now I have been attempting to find a backpack. I often go out to state parks to take photos, read, and use my shortwave so there's a few items I usually take with me. The thing is backpacks that aren't made for children cost big money. You would think that thrift stores would have tons of these things laying around, but it took me a month to find one that suited my needs.


It may not look like much from the photo, but it's one serious backpack. It's the kind you take mounting climbing or on a walking tour of Western Europe or a mystical island that travels through time. Its got all kinds of pockets and spaces, a separate compartment for my books, and even a waist strap should I need to traverse vertical surfaces. So now I was ready.


The journey continues...

Today we went to Virginia Key. We walked down the beach to a more secluded area by the jetties, and I took pictures, and then sat down to read. The place was beautiful and there were these strange native American looking symbols painted onto some of the rocks in the surrounding are.The weather was about as nice as its ever been. It was windy, but not too cold; so I could finally wear shorts again.


I sat down at a bench that was shaded by a couple of intertwining fir trees, and whipped out my shortwave, but the only thing interesting that I picked up in my native tongue was Voice of America out of Washington D.C. I sat and listened to news updates about Baghdad for a while, and eventually my parents walked further down the beach and I began to study 1st Samuel. Then it happened....


The battle begins...

I'm up to chapter 4 when suddenly I get a flash of something out of the corner of my eye. A very odd looking, mostly blond, raccoon has climbed up on the picnic table with my parents stuff, and is attempting to abscond with their lunch box. I walk over figuring that he'll just beat it, but the bold little son of a B attempts to make for the woods.


I follow after him and start stomping and barking, but by that point he's dragging the box off into a bush. I wasn't about to try and grab the raccoon. After all I got a good look at his fangs when he bit the lunch box, and they're a lot larger than you would think. Finally after several attempts at anti-raccoon posturing I grabbed the handle and tugged the thing away from him, but that's not where it ended...


The battle continues...

My parents arrived at the scene and laughed at the struggle. Thinking I had won I turned my head to see if maybe there was something on the table I could give to the little fellow, when he darted out of the bush and sunk his teeth into the lunch box in an attempt to snatch it from me! The audacity.


I clamped both hands down on the handle and spun the lunch box around thinking he would let go, but he didn't. I lifted him off the ground and spun him around in a circle (gently). I made it a full 360 degrees before he finally let go and ran off into the woods... to plan his next move no doubt.

So let it be written:

On this day Matthew son of Mark rose forth from the word, and reclaimed the box of lunch from that which is known as raccoon.

The rest of the day was not as eventful. I had a very pleasant and mostly quiet afternoon. I took lots of pictures, ran into some chick doing a modeling session out by the cliffs, and had a nice tuna salad. I'll post some pics sooner or later... maybe.

Many songs shall be sung of this day!