There are a million stories from the streets of South Boston and here’s one of them.
Early Monday morning, I awoke to white lights flashing in my window and the sound of loud growling. Yes, growling – and not really an animal growling but it was distinctly a man growling loudly like an animal. Being curious by nature, I quickly jumped from my bed and ran to the window to find out what the hell was going on.
It appeared that someone was flashing lights on and off from their home. Someone was pounding on their window. And there was the growling. Not a low growling but a loud, aggressive growl like someone was scary off a bear.
Was someone trapped in a house on my block and trying to get my attention with the flashing lights and banging on the window? Was someone just drunk out their mind? I heard the loud growling again. Maybe it was too many episodes of Penny Dreadful but I thought, “Is there a werewolf in my neighborhood?”
I woke up my husband to tell him the alarming news. He looked out the window and saw the lights flashing. “That looks like it’s coming from Joe’s deck. It’s a flashlight,” he said calmly. Well, why is he doing that? I asked. “Maybe he saw the Southie Coyote?” my husband shrugged.
Highly unlikely. He just happened to glance out the window and spy the Southie Coyote? That doesn’t seem right. Luckily I have my neighbor Joe’s cell number so I texted him.
M: Hi Joe. It’s Maureen. Were you just on your deck with a flashlight?
J: Yes, barking like a dog…We have a new neighbor in the area who wants to live on my deck a 40b raccoon. I have chased him off twice int he past three days. Sorry to wake you. I’ll keep the barking to a minimum next time.
So mystery solved. No one is being held prisoner. There is no Southie Werewolf. It’s just my neighbor Joe scaring off an extra large raccoon with a flashlight and barking noises at 5:30am. Makes perfect sense.
What’s your Southie Neighborhood Tale? It can be anything – old school Southie folklore, a random act of kindness, observations from the bus stop….anything! Send them to [email protected] and maybe we’ll post them!
I once grew sunflowers on my third floor deck on east 5th. They kept getting eaten. Finally I caught the culprit – an ingenious squirrel who shimmied 007 style from the telephone pole to the deck (there were no external stairs). Needless to say, I gave up on growing sunflowers. Likewise, one morning my husband was about to step onto the same deck to check the weather. Holy S****, I hear from across the room. I run over to see a very large raccoon, who is apparently still living in the neighborhood.