Shannon Stacey


The raccoon…he is watching

The weekend before last, my husband and I went up north to do some joint ATV/snowmobile club trail maintenance. Since it’s rather chilly up there this time of year and the camper’s closed for the season, we stayed at the inn down the road where we eat breakfast during the ATVing season and where my husband often stays during sledding season.

We always take the Big Room, which is actually two adjoining bedrooms and sleeps like six to eight people, because it has its own bathroom. I’m not sharing a bathroom with strangers and my husband tries to keep my interaction with people pre-caffeine to a minimum lest we run out of people who’ll talk to us. It’s a really nice room, despite the lack of a Keurig.

And the Creepy Raccoon of Doom.

I’m not one of those people who sees pictures in the clouds. “Can’t you see the dragon? See, there’s his snout and that wispy bit is his tail…” Uh, no. Don’t see it. But if you give me pine or some other knotty wood, I see things. Sometimes creepy things. And once I see them, I can’t un-see them.

Here’s the lovely ceiling in the Big Room. Very warm and homey and a little bit country. But then I saw him. Let me circle him for you…

Can’t see him? Let me zoom in a bit and adjust the lighting to properly do him justice…

I swear on my iPhone’s life, all I did was crop the picture and apply the Helga filter to it. No Photoshop or other picture manipulation.

There was a freaking demented raccoon staring down at me from the ceiling. That is not restful, people. Trust me.

7 comments to “The raccoon…he is watching”

  1. Sharon M
    Comment
    1
      · November 19th, 2012 at 9:25 am · Link

    Oh, holy crap, Shan. I see the raccoon, but I also see a bat. And I never want to stay in a room with wood ceilings ever again. Never ever.



  2. Lee Laughlin
    Comment
    2
      · November 19th, 2012 at 10:45 am · Link

    I saw the bat before I saw the raccoon. Sometimes being visually impaired has its perks :) Would never have seen that without the zoom shot.



  3. Becky
    Comment
    3
      · November 19th, 2012 at 11:15 am · Link

    Shannon, you’re not developing a fear of the raccoon gang like Keri are you? ;-) I see the raccoon in the pic. I am one of those types who sees faces in the leaves when the trees are full in the summer, I blame it on the artist in me. Thank your brain for matrixing the raccoon image.

    Sounds like a beautiful lodge, I love staying at cabins.



  4. library addict
    Comment
    4
      · November 19th, 2012 at 2:35 pm · Link

    Think of him as a guardian racoon. Really he’s just looking out FOR you.



  5. Colleen Isolde
    Comment
    5
      · November 19th, 2012 at 7:24 pm · Link

    This made me think if Keri immediately! Also reminded me of the John Candy and Dan Aykroyd movie “The Great Outdoors” from 1988. I grew up taking vacations in cabins in northern Wisconsin as well as staying in cabins in Vermont, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania. So many critter stories…



  6. Becky
    Comment
    6
      · November 20th, 2012 at 12:21 pm · Link

    Hey Colleen, now I’m gonna have to watch “The Great Outdoors” ;-) Haven’t seen that movie in forever. I live in the mtns. of WV and we have so many critters and stories from here as well. Have you ever had a bear IN your kitchen? We have LOL He came in the back door and helped himself to some bacon and jelly beans.



  7. Shannon
    Comment
    7
      · November 20th, 2012 at 1:40 pm · Link

    LOVE The Great Outdoors! I haven’t watched that in years and I think my boys NEED to see that!

    Don’t see the bat. I’m okay with that.







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