Masked intruder

 A few nights ago, we watched the scary movie The Woman in Black then snuggled down for the night with Macauley on his camping cot next to our bed, just a few feet inside the door in the picture above.  I tossed and turned a bit after the unsettling film, and at about 2 a.m. I heard the food in Booker's big bowl being moved around.  Knowing B was sound asleep across my feet, I thought maybe outdoor kitty Maya Angelou had come in and had resorted to dog food because there was no cat food in the garage.  I got up to check, and instead of seeing my big black kitty, I startled a small raccoon who had shimmied under the barely cracked garage door and boldy hopped through the cat flap into the house to sort through the huge bowl of goodies with his tiny black hands.  He scurried back through the flap, but instead of fleeing in fear, he put his little face back up to flap for a while and watched me, wondering if I was going to leave and let him come back in it seemed.  There was a raccoon in my kitchen!  It took me a few seconds to process.  Just feet from where we slept.  And with that, it was decided that the garage door can no longer be left cracked for Maya--she will either come in by curfew or be on her own for the night.  Interestingly, Booker T. never even cracked a sleepy eye or raised his head, which led us to believe that either a) he is not the guard dog we've been fooling ourselves he could be, or b) this little critter (and/or his family and friends) have pulled this trick before and Booker (and the equally unfazed cats) found this situation unalarmingly routine.  I would say it's probably c) all of the above.

My blogging has been sporadic at best of late, but somehow I've made it to the 500 post mark today!!!  I read back through a number of my posts a few nights ago, and I really am so glad I took the time to put so many photos and thoughts here to look back on, especially the "small" stuff of everyday life.  I really must get back in the habit...