Signs Of Life

One set of rabbit prints

Yesterday there were only one set of tracks in the back yard - today there are many more - rabbit, bird and what must be either cat or raccoon...

Rabbit, bird, raccoon or cat - and me!

One of my favorite family stories is what happened to my parents before I was born: They were living near Spokane, Washington and decided to go hiking in the mountains. They had been walking for a couple of hours when they met a man who asked, "Have you seen any bears?" When my parents replied no, they hadn't, the man said, "Well, one's been following you for quite a while." They returned safely without ever seeing the bear, but were a bit shaken knowing they were being followed by one!

A young black bear looking for acorns in Florida

As I've mentioned before, my brother has to keep an eye out for bears traveling through the yard down in Florida - he snapped this shot a couple of months ago of a young bear in the driveway, eating fallen acorns. These days, the squirrels are chowing down on the little brown nuts (the meat is a bright orange), but there are plenty for all creatures who can tolerate the bitter taste.

I've presented Rabbit lore before, so here is something about Raccoon, a distant relative of Bear:

Raccoon Medicine:

Raccoon represents creativity, dexterity, and adaptability; thievery, curiosity, and protection; shape-shifting and discovering secrets. Raccoon is a problem solver. He has an innate curiosity about how things work and will encourage you to discover new ideas and methods of achieving your goals. Intelligence is one of his strong points; combined with adaptability and a playful nature he becomes quite an interesting teacher. Raccoon can show you how to live in the Now to take full advantage of the spirit worlds. His sense of family and hunting will serve you well in providing for your own needs. Raccoon is a healer and uses the qualities of water to increase sensitivity, cleanse, purify, and soothe.

http://spiritlodge.yuku.com