Giant Raccoon!

Last night I dashed out for some beer while we watched The Social Network.

I jogged over to our bodega - a lovely convenience store that has almost everything you'd ever need in a pinch (pudding? yes! chips? yes! Middle Eastern rice-a-roni? yes!) at a reasonable markup.

As I passed the Senior Center a few doors down Montrose I saw an animal barreling about. The Giant Raccoon - with it's striped tail and enormous middle - limbered across Montrose Avenue behind a car!

We've seen Giant Raccoon before - when I accidentally left some aromatic garbage outside our backdoor. We also saw Giant Raccoon (or one of its relations) in a tree walking home from Truman College one night.

Giant Raccoon - and the hilarious troupe of men who work at the bodega - are things I love about my neighborhood. Giant raccoon, the bakery, the nice man who works at the El station, the new bar and the funny kids who we can watch from our window chasing each other with shovels in the snow. All those things make up for driving around for a parking space, the gastropub we can't stand and the silly vegan restaurant.