October 09, 2006

Life is better with animals

My parking spot at Juvy is out at the edge of the lot where the landscaping meets the wetlands. Usually I'll see finches, juncos and bluejays there, and hear a frog or two. After this morning's court session I went out to the pick-up, rolled down the window, and sat behind the wheel for a while, shuffling paper and watching birds. After a few minutes I turned on the ignition, and a small raccoon jumped out of the arborvitae not five feet away.

He ambled a few feet further with that half-crouching walk that reminds me of my crabby old cat, but he was a young thing and brash. I half expected him to flash me the West Side gang sign. Instead, he stood up, looked me in the eyes and sniffed a moment, then sauntered into the cattails.

This afternoon, it was a rabbit that spooked and ran as I was passing the corner of the courthouse. I'd just had a client go away for two years, who'd PV'ed and come up short 22 months into a 24 month probation. I was glad for a wild animal companion, even if it was just a glimpse of a fluffy bunny butt and four lucky rabbit's feet heading away from me fast.

1 Comment:

Anonymous said...

back in the day, i rescued a feral cat or 2 from the jail parking lot, and placed them with good homes. wish it was as easy to see our clients to success -- especially the young ones.

in law school, i was sure i wanted to do juvie work. the few times i filled in at juvie court [a few years later] about broke my heart. you can see the spark that might get them through, and you know how much has gone wrong and how many times these kids have been failed -- but oh, there is no way to make it all right, and then they do more stupid things.

part of it is just being teens -- that prefrontal cortex is not ready for prime time until the 20's. but add the developmental thing to a bad life, and the potential for disaster is lurking all around.

you are doing good work, skelly -- the work of the angels. things could be much, much worse without the anonymous defender on their side. but geez, shouldn't there be so much more in the corner of the teenaged underdogs? your young ones sure need those lucky rabbit feet.