5:30 a.m.
It’s predawn as I begin my stroll down the driveway, looking ahead for water hazards (a.k.a. automatic sprinklers) when I spot movement in the dim light. Something, no wait two somethings emerge from the culvert drain.

Could that be a pair of cats? I have often seen cats disappear and reappear through this opening to the street. No, they don’t move like cats. They are small like cats, but cats have a lithesome quality. These critters waddle as they scurry from one culvert to the one on the opposite side of the street.
My steps slow as I cautiously draw closer to this pair. I remember the skunk family that waddled down our street years ago. I do not want to alarm these critters if they are skunks. I keep my distance, but have my phone ready for a snapshot.
Click, click, no that’s no good. The phone camera doesn’t like the dark. The images are blurry. I find the flash button. Click, click, their image is captured but their eyes reflect in the light so they have a possessed look.

I wonder what other creatures lurk in the neighborhood.
