Supermoon Raccoon

Scientists made us aware that last evening was the largest and closest full moon of the year. Some even call it a Supermoon! Amazingly, we had clear skies are were able to enjoy the view before we went to bed last night. Sometime around 1:30 AM I was awake and unable to fall asleep, so I got up thinking I would try to snooze on the couch instead. As I passed by the window in my bedroom I noticed a large furry shape on the patio roof only a couple feet away. At first I thought it was a large cat, but when I got my glasses on I discovered that it was a raccoon! He was sitting there on the roof, seemingly enjoying the view of the moon glow over the yard and woods below. He stretched, he groomed, he gazed thoughtfully into the night. I watched a while, then rapped on the window to get his attention. He looked back at me, but seemed to be unconcerned. We repeated this "conversation" several times until I got bored with it.

 Eventually, I decided to step out on the patio from the living room with my camera to see if I could get a picture of my supermoon friend. I didn't turn on the lights for fear of scaring him away too quickly. When I stepped outside the raccoon eyed me much more warily than he did when I was inside, but I talked with him quietly while trying to get my camera ready to take a couple shots, and he considered his options. The only safe escape route seemed to be the way he got there, which was to step onto the back porch railing near the roof, and then go down the stairs to the yard. I couldn't see anything in the viewfinder because it was so dark, but I aimed at what I hoped was the right direction and took a few pictures with the flash as he slowly made his way off the roof and past me. A couple of the photos actually found the target, even though it is unfocused.

 I thoroughly enjoyed my visit with the raccoon, and soon after fell into slumber on the sofa with a smile on my face. Thank goodness I have a couple photos to prove it wasn't all a dream. :)