We were in Texas earlier this month. When I left there were 6 inches of snow on the ground so it was a treat to sit on a patio and drink iced tea for a few days while contemplating the blue, blue sky and noticing the warm textures around me.
When I got home the snow was gone. Within days the bulbs started nosing up out of the ground. Spring, spring, spring!!
I was standing by the sink, getting a glass of water, when I looked up and there, under the bird feeder, was an opossum!
The opossum. The one living under the barn. The one whose little hand prints I’ve seen in the snow and on the barn wall. My opossum!!
I yelled “Opossum!!” and scrambled for the camera, the cats scrambling in tow.
Meanwhile Possie calmly munched on sunflower shells. Then headed back home in an ambling way, following the path left by my footsteps to and from the feeder,
and sniffing the air.
When s/he disappeared out of view near the house I lost track, I think because s/he was skirting the walls, but when I ran over to the other side of the building there was Possie,
heading to that gap in the barn siding where we always suspected s/he lived.
Estyn Hulbert jewelry is now available at Associated Diamond Brokers in Philadelphia. 
Drop by if you’re in the area — the people are friendly and the store has been in business for nearly half a century.