raccoon

I just saw an oversized plastic bag, upright and drifting along the shoulder with the entrained wind from the traffic, decide that now is the time. It changed direction, floated right up and over the jersey barrier, and did a jumper off the Almaden Expressway overpass. Did it right in front of me, happened pretty fast too. It was just gone. I didn’t have time to do anything about it, and I was driving, traffic was flowing pretty good in that moment on 85, but not for much longer. Now, why would it do that? I was thinking more about the air currents around an overpass, but at the end of the bridge deck I had another entirely different answer. A raccoon, roadkill 100%, right after the end of the barriers. The bag was inconsolable, shredded with grief, after the loss of its partner and just gave up. This is the story that immediately popped into my head as I sped past. I admit that I was having a hard time envisioning the relationship; mostly the raccoon just carried the bag, perhaps it was his favorite. And that was enough. I could try to take it further, try to make more sense out of it, but traffic is starting to stack up and I have to pay attention.

jg

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