Do you know how hard it is to stop a habit and then start it up again? The resistance. The second thoughts. The imaginary fears. I’m not sure what all is involved, probably all of the above. It’s certainly true where swimming is concerned and seems to be the same for blogging.
Anyway, my therapist says the only thing to do is to do it. Also, to break paralysis requires movement. The number one healer of trauma is walking. Certain events require immediate action. No time to think, just do.
Such as dead raccoons.
There are raccoons in the neighborhood, but I rarely catch a glimpse. There used to be some nights Sophie refused to go into our backyard at bedtime, so I got in the habit of taking her out front instead. I think she smelled raccoons. A neighbor said he once saw a whole tribe of raccoons walking single file along the block wall behind our houses.
Evidently one raccoon fell off that wall into our carport. It was there, dead, on Saturday morning. What to do? The body was then covered with a weighted-down plastic bin and left where it fell, in sunshine.
I called 311. The city worker assured me they’d turn my information over to Animal Welfare. No word all day. That was Saturday. I didn’t make any calls on Sunday. Monday morning I called 311 again, gave them my many-digit reference number. I ended up with no new information and a second many-digit number. And no action.
What 311 doesn’t tell you is that the city does NOT pick up dead animals off private property. Nor are you allowed to dump them in with your trash, though I suspect many do, considering the alternative of paying many dollars to a private company.
I called the top-rated company. Their recorded message was that they were booked into November. What to do? I went out to weed the yard. Movement! It helps one think things through. That’s when I thought of my own pest control company. No, they didn’t pick up dead animals either, but recommended Critter Control.
I called and spoke to a lovely young person in Georgia. She said someone would come out, and then send a work order for me to accept, and then someone else would come take care of the matter. What? I protested. That much coming and going sounded overly wasteful of time and energy to remove one dead critter. Instead, she agreed to take my information and have someone local call me within 20 minutes. It didn’t happen. That was Monday.
On Tuesday noon I got the call, which was good because two appointments had filled my morning. We chatted, the man sent a doc to my email account. After signing and paying $$$$, someone arrived within two hours.
As I mentioned, the raccoon was in a sunny spot. The maggots were spectacular. I said we’d thought of bagging it. The tech agreed that would have been a good idea, and to have stored it in the shade. Next time. He also sanitized the area.
Whew! A four day dilemma solved.
Okay. Having completed this blog, I’ll do my best to continue. See you next week!
