Opossum, Where Art Thou?

Imagine my surprise to see a big, fat possum waddle across our little, city neighborhood street this morning. I was outside with the kids, inspecting my new windshield that had been replaced by the good people at Safelite when something catches my eye across the neighbor's yard. A big, fat, hairy beastly thing shuffles its way across the grass and into the street, dragging its long, rat-like tail behind it. It moved much the way Danny Devito did in his portrayl of the Penguin. For a few seconds I just stare and then yell for the kids to come out of the car and see this thing. David jumps out and comes running onto the lawn.

"Oh, what IS that, mommy??

"I don't know, David."

I really didn't at the time. I'd seen one before but in my head I'm thinking, is it a muskrat? There's really no water nearby, so no, can't be that. Is it a mutant sewer rat?? Oh, I hope not. I knew I'd seen this thing before but I couldn't think of where and when. Then later this evening I was describing it to E and he said it was likely it was a possum. He reminded me of the one he'd caught in our dirt basement in our old Nashua apartment years ago. He had trapped it and then let it go in a forest a couple towns out. When he tried to take a picture of it staggering off it made a face kind of like this. Scary, huh? Damn right it was!

So I don't know where that thing is now, but it looks like no matter how far we move from the country, it always seems to find its way to us.