Evening After-Work Totem Message
11.01.06 (9:05 pm)
When I got home this evening (after a twelve hour day) I was greeted by our household dog-friend, naturally. That would be Gracie. Nothing strange in her behavior, though she's sometimes a little mopey after being so long home alone (John's away in the DC-Baltimore area on business.) Well! Apparently she hadn't been quite so alone ...
Unloading my burden, (don't get me started on all the *stuff* I carry around when working) I stepped my usual path through the first floor of the house. Once in the living room I stopped cold. There lying in front of the television cabinet, was an opossum, looking quite worse for the wear, sourrounded by its own feces and spots of blood on the rug.
Geez - okay Andrea, think this through. Gathering my steele as quickly as I could, I started gathering supplies to bundle this poor beast and launch into cleanup. Great first order of business at the end of a long day, eh?
Anyway, once I was prepared to gather this critter with plastic bag, I saw that the opossum was clearly breathing. Alright. Then I grabbed an old towel, and thinking better of it got John's new work gloves - those teeth looked really impressive.
Soooh, at last, gloves donned and with the old towel, I scooped up the opossum and carried it to the fron door. It dropped lovely dollups of black tarry possum-poop along the way (thank you fella.)
Left the guy on the fron porch, wrapped nicely in the old towel and returned to the business of cleanup, now made more expansive by an act of kindness. Now it stinks to high heaven with the combination of "I'm dead Opossum smell," poop, and Pet Fresh anti stain products which has a horrendously strong anti-stink stink.
Fed Gracie - and I couldn't eat if my life depended on it now. Just minutes ago, I stepped out to check on my opossum friend's status, and guess what?
IT'S GONE!! Nothing there but my old towel.
Here's the message from the totem web-page I referred to for the Bat the other day. (I love the final line, "Congratulations and welcome home." Yeah, great ...):
http://www.sayahda.com/cyc3.html
"The Opossum
The opossum is a crafty animal that shows us how to play different roles. It knows when to act, when to hide, and when to show its true colors. Opossum is a master at recognizing truth as well as falsehood. When it wants attention it gets it. When it wants to be left alone it plays dead. It is a strategic animal that knows how to mold each situation according to its needs. It has the ability to decode hidden messages and read between the lines.
A supreme actor, the opossum can be aggressive or submissive depending on the situation. The opossum knows that each situation has commonalties as well as differences and reflects on them carefully before it responds. This links the opossum to the energies of practicality and ingenuity.
Always full of surprises and unpredictable opossums are masters at playing dead. When the time is right they can suddenly spring back to life. Playing dead is a self induced state in which the heartbeat actually slows and the pulse becomes minimal. This ability serves to confuse many predators giving the opossum an escape from life threatening situations.
Opossums are nocturnal and raise their young in a pouch on their mid section. The young are born blind and rely on their feelings to guide them to their destination. They learn to sense their way around at an early age developing strong instincts by the time they reach adulthood. These instincts are complimented by their inherent ability to disguise themselves. The opossum is a multi-faceted actor that continually changes its appearance. It does not allow its emotions to consume its actions and partakes in the game of life with strategic maneuvers. Part of what the opossum teaches to those with this totem is emotional and mental stability.
The opossum is a craftsman in the art of appearances. When it appears in your life it is telling you to wake up and pay attention. Things are not what they seem to be. By observing your actions, reactions, thoughts and feelings, deeper insights emerge. This emergence leads to self-empowerment. Congratulations and welcome home!"
When I got home this evening (after a twelve hour day) I was greeted by our household dog-friend, naturally. That would be Gracie. Nothing strange in her behavior, though she's sometimes a little mopey after being so long home alone (John's away in the DC-Baltimore area on business.) Well! Apparently she hadn't been quite so alone ...
Unloading my burden, (don't get me started on all the *stuff* I carry around when working) I stepped my usual path through the first floor of the house. Once in the living room I stopped cold. There lying in front of the television cabinet, was an opossum, looking quite worse for the wear, sourrounded by its own feces and spots of blood on the rug.
Geez - okay Andrea, think this through. Gathering my steele as quickly as I could, I started gathering supplies to bundle this poor beast and launch into cleanup. Great first order of business at the end of a long day, eh?
Anyway, once I was prepared to gather this critter with plastic bag, I saw that the opossum was clearly breathing. Alright. Then I grabbed an old towel, and thinking better of it got John's new work gloves - those teeth looked really impressive.
Soooh, at last, gloves donned and with the old towel, I scooped up the opossum and carried it to the fron door. It dropped lovely dollups of black tarry possum-poop along the way (thank you fella.)
Left the guy on the fron porch, wrapped nicely in the old towel and returned to the business of cleanup, now made more expansive by an act of kindness. Now it stinks to high heaven with the combination of "I'm dead Opossum smell," poop, and Pet Fresh anti stain products which has a horrendously strong anti-stink stink.
Fed Gracie - and I couldn't eat if my life depended on it now. Just minutes ago, I stepped out to check on my opossum friend's status, and guess what?
IT'S GONE!! Nothing there but my old towel.
Here's the message from the totem web-page I referred to for the Bat the other day. (I love the final line, "Congratulations and welcome home." Yeah, great ...):
http://www.sayahda.com/cyc3.html
"The Opossum
The opossum is a crafty animal that shows us how to play different roles. It knows when to act, when to hide, and when to show its true colors. Opossum is a master at recognizing truth as well as falsehood. When it wants attention it gets it. When it wants to be left alone it plays dead. It is a strategic animal that knows how to mold each situation according to its needs. It has the ability to decode hidden messages and read between the lines.
A supreme actor, the opossum can be aggressive or submissive depending on the situation. The opossum knows that each situation has commonalties as well as differences and reflects on them carefully before it responds. This links the opossum to the energies of practicality and ingenuity.
Always full of surprises and unpredictable opossums are masters at playing dead. When the time is right they can suddenly spring back to life. Playing dead is a self induced state in which the heartbeat actually slows and the pulse becomes minimal. This ability serves to confuse many predators giving the opossum an escape from life threatening situations.
Opossums are nocturnal and raise their young in a pouch on their mid section. The young are born blind and rely on their feelings to guide them to their destination. They learn to sense their way around at an early age developing strong instincts by the time they reach adulthood. These instincts are complimented by their inherent ability to disguise themselves. The opossum is a multi-faceted actor that continually changes its appearance. It does not allow its emotions to consume its actions and partakes in the game of life with strategic maneuvers. Part of what the opossum teaches to those with this totem is emotional and mental stability.
The opossum is a craftsman in the art of appearances. When it appears in your life it is telling you to wake up and pay attention. Things are not what they seem to be. By observing your actions, reactions, thoughts and feelings, deeper insights emerge. This emergence leads to self-empowerment. Congratulations and welcome home!"
posted by Andrea | 9:51 PM
2 Comments:
andrea, my comment about this post is on a previous post! check for it!
ruthrap said...
andrea, wanted to comment on the possum post, but having a little problem with blogger so looks like it's going to let me comment here instead! anyway, thanks for filling me in on everything I need to know about possums and stuff I didn't want to know! Did you not freak out finding that when you got home? he could have been a bit more considerate and not have pooped all over..was that necessary for playing dead? how disgusting! I'm surprised your dog didn't finish him off. She was probably so repulsed she stayed clear!
that one should get an award for the performance he gave!
11:31 PM EST
-----
Hey there ruthrap - always good to hear from you!
Yes indeed I do tend to think that Gracie was nearly as disgusted as I was dismayed by our visitor. My imagination in retrospect, generates images of Mr. 'Possum, muscling in on her turf and helping himself to whatever he could find, until she nailed him.
Animals are a real riot! I'm laughing a lot more about it now that time's passed, and we've gotten the stains outta the rugs ...
Thanks for stopping in!
- Andrea
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