A possum is an unlikely lens on meaning in life. Who looks to a possum for self-awareness? A possum is not majestic like a horse or lion, endearing like a faithful dog or storied like sheep. It’s rather insignificant, really, from most points of view.
I felt that way, too — until a possum appeared in our tiny, enclosed backyard situated between busy streets in the middle of downtown. I first spotted the possum on the sloping surface of a neighboring roof. What a surprise! It looked lost and somehow misshapen.
I ran downstairs to get a camera and slipped out the back door for a better view. The possum had disappeared. Scanning the trees and rooftops, I felt something rub against my bare foot.
A baby possum. I startled the little creature when I jumped almost out of my skin, and it scampered off into the foliage. I tried to follow the small fellow, and when I turned away from the search a minute or two later, there was the original possum standing right behind me — with five babies clinging to her back.
From a distance, they had looked like humps. She was looking for her sixth, her lost possum, I was sure; she had bravely come into our domain to find it. Aging for Amateurs: Climate change can bring anxiety to elders, but there are solutions We gazed at each other for a long moment, eye to eye.
I raised my camera and took her photo. I looked down to adjust the camera, and in that instant, she was gone, vanished. I couldn’t find her anywhere.
The planet had turned, from t.