Trash Day Downtown

A raccoon stood on a downtown sidewalk this evening as we walked by. The raccoon moved like a cat, seemingly tame and curious, with its back arched and its feet tentatively and gracefully approaching the curb. A couple people stopped to watch it and it waited for them while they marveled at it. Then it dove into a huge pile of trash in front of a nondescript store on the corner. It hid behind the huge pile as its perky ears were just visible behind about five big bags of trash. I wonder what kind of surprise will be waiting for the store people in the morning. You never quite know what to expect from raccoons.
Some people we know (David, Milo and Zoe) from a town that's two hours away from here stopped us on the sidewalk to say hi. They saw us from a restaurant window as we walked by, just moments away from the raccoon sighting. David brought them for a journey that was initiated by this day being take-your-kid-to-work day. I told him I thought it was take-your-daughter-to-work day. He said the day has evolved to be gender-neutral. My day consisted of events in which the presence of children is pretty much prohibited.