This afternoon while standing at the kitchen sink, I glanced out the window and saw a raccoon on the fence. No – it’s not what you think. This raccoon is a chalk drawing on the wooden pallette of our sideyard fence. This raccoon is very faded; his outlines are almost indiscernible, and any details he once possessed have now deserted him. After all, he has stood upon our fence for almost a year.

This raccoon first appeared on the fence last fall. On a slow afternoon I handed my daughter a carton filled with colored chalk and pointed her to the blank and unadorned fence. The result was RACCOON – that is his name. We have enjoyed watching Raccoon through the seasons . As the rainy season neared last fall, we wondered how long Raccoon would survive. Surprisingly, he survived. Rain after rain, he survived. He definitely got wet: his wet form darkening along with the rain-soaked fence, his chalk lines softening under the influence of the weather. But after each wetting, he would dry out and his colors would return again.

Raccoon is perpetually celebrating: as seen by the happy bits of confetti that surround him and by his party hat. But in January, after his colors were lovingly renewed, he sported a specific birthday greeting addressed to Older Sister. During that time, with friends and family also taking chalk in hand, the whole fence became the canvas for a large Birthday Card with many birthday greetings.

So Raccoon and birthday greetings aged together through the spring: both patiently weathering the rains and fogs and one hail storm. As the weeks passed, Raccoon receded into the natural grain of the wooden boards. And we ceased to notice him; his faded condition made him quite unremarkable; our eye did not register his existence.

Raccoon has lasted through the summer. He has witnessed several exuberant water fights. But now he is faded and tired. Very faded,…almost indiscernible…but still a witness and a memory of a happy and well-spent year.