Monday, July 31, 2006

Just letting it go

Exchange with my parents, as told by my mother:

Dad: "I need to use the car to go to the store to buy some milk"

Mom: "We have plenty of milk."

Dad: "It's for the baby raccoons" (side note: my father has fed the mother raccoon since she was a baby, so of course she has her baby's under the house so my father will feed all of them.)

Mom: "What makes you think their mother's milk isn't good enough that you have to give them cow's milk"

Dad: "What is the purpose of cows if not to feed all of the baby animals? grumble grumble grumble" and so on for a few minutes

Mom: stands there in silence and then continues whatever she was doing (she calls this, "Just letting it go")


She says he didn't go to the store but I'm sure he whipped up a very fattening and tasty meal for the momma raccoon, you know, so she can make better milk then the cow's. I can't wait until he starts letting them all into the house to feed them prime rib at the table. The baby raccoons may be adorable now, but when they all start having their babies under that house, I think there will be a bit of a problem.

Since my brother and I moved out, he has taken it upon himself to feed ALL of the wildlife in the now very suburban neighborhood. I'm sure the neighbors love the 5 loud ravens that visit every morning to get their fill of peanuts and scrap veggies, along with their morning baths in the various water dishes around the yard.

He means well. He doesn't know any other way to express caring and love without the use of food (oh and little envelopes of money slipped under the table, but the raccoons and ravens can't really use that).

5 comments:

J said...

Tell him to give you their share of the money. ;)

Yeah, those raccoons will be turning over all of the garbage cans in the neighborhood soon, methinks.

Maya's Granny said...

Once upon a time, in L.A., or so I've read, the police were called in to investigate a case of vandalism, where a house with owners out of town and so in the care of a management company, had been messed up pretty badly in a relatively non-destructive way. It kept happening. They figured out the vandals were coming in the pet door and thought they were either little people or children. Finally, the management company set up a motion sensative camera and caught raccoons coming in, unwinding toilet paper, emptying drawers, throwing things about. It was supposed to be a very funny video.

And I wonder, since they knew the point of entry was the pet door, why didn't they nail it shut?

Autumn's Mom said...

Maybe you should get him a kitten?

Cherry said...

Yea... um... I didn't mention that they currently care for 3 cats (down from 8), and are feeding an additional 3 more that haven't been petted yet.

In the winter, he builds them kitty condos, which are boxes with blankets and heating pads.

Can you imagine what will happen when we give them grandchildren?

Anonymous said...

Ah your dad is so sweet and caring. I can tell he misses you and your brother. He loves taking care of all little creatures .