Raccoons Are Driving Me Crazy!

Last night I was in my office last night upstairs and heard something scratching above me. I froze. My heart was pounding and I felt like crying.

"Not again!" I thought, fighting back tears.

I looked out the back window at the part of the roof I could see ... and saw nothing. I went back inside and started working again, and heard the scratches. I touched various walls to see if I could feel a vibration. Nothing. When I heard the scratching again, I got up, put on my coat and boots, grabbed a flashlight and headed outside. Once again, nothing.

I kept hearing the scratching, but I couldn't tell exactly where it was coming from. I stood perfectly still touching one wall or another to see if I could feel a vibration. Again, nothing. At one point, I was standing on my desk with my hand on the ceiling, for a really long time, waiting for the scratching.

I got dressed again and went out into the backyard, looking in all the nooks and crannies of the roof line to try to spot the culprit. Again, nothing.

My middle daughter came home. She was in her room next to my office when I heard the scratching.

"Did you hear that?" I asked.

"No."

For the next forty-five minutes or so, I would hear the scratching, ask her if she heard it, and she always said no. Finally I told her to come into my office ... where we sat perfectly still waiting for the scratching. After what seemed like an eternity ... and while she was undoubtedly texting my oldest daughter that their mother had finally lost her mind ... I heard scratching.

"You heard that, right?" I pleaded, hoping she had ... that I wasn't delusional.

"Yeah. Is that what you'v been hearing?" she asked.

"Yes," I answered. I wasn't crazy! My daughter heard the scratches, too!

We touched the walls, the ceiling, and looked out the windows. It took a while, but we finally figured out it was a branch from the pine tree outside the window, rubbing against the roof and the house.

I'm exhausted today. I stayed up until 2:00 in the morning because of those stupid (non-existent) raccoons. When I'm an old woman and you pass me on the street, and I'm mumbling to myself, fidgeting nervously, and looking around with wide, frightened eyes ... it's a pretty good bet that the raccoons had something to do with it!!