Raccoon on the Railing

At 5:20 this morning, i looked out to the deck to see if any birds were ready for some breakfast birdseed. I surprised a raccoon eating her breakfast of yesterday's birdseed.

I recently remarked that i hadn't seen someone in a coon's age. Then i wondered if that was a racist remark.

"A coon's age" came into use 200 years ago when raccoons were thought to live a long time because their fur lasts a long time. (Think of Daniel Boone and his coonskin cap or the raccoon coats of a hundred years ago.)

Although there is only one race (the human race), the hatred perpetuated by racism has been part of our heritage for a very long time--340 years.

It is time to notice our own contractions of heart around "race." As Ruth King says, "Racism is a heart disease."

Hum into your heart. Right now. Notice whether humming softens your heart.

The raccoon knows nothing about race. To her, every raccoon is raccoon. That is all.