Rudely Lucky

I am a lucky man because I own several rotten wood piles and an abandoned outhouse.

Yes. I’m a New Hampshire land owner and Jeezum Crow I have some God Awful things out in the woods.

I have a discarded septic tank that looks like a Soyuz space capsule.

I have a shaggy carpet of moss and a migratory flock of wild turkeys to stand on it.

I am in these ways what you might call a wealthy man.

Last summer a raccoon took up residence in the septic tank. I nicknamed him Yuri for obvious reasons.

I track the weather in New England from Iowa City. They say that today will augur fierce winds and heavy rain and I hope that my dear old outhouse will endure.

I am mindful that if my only worry is the disposition of my abandoned outhouse I’m in good shape.

I hope Yuri is okay.

Summer is coming.

A man’s thoughts turn to his outlying septic tank and spiders, mushrooms, loons, and cinnamon ferns in sunlight.