I’ve been doing a daily self-portrait in my journal since June. Today’s self-portrait took a detour—I drew an animal I’d like to be instead, because, why not? My journal, my rules.
I met a cute, young, friendly coatimundi* when I was traveling around Costa Rica years ago. We had stopped at Tilajari, a resort where we hoped to stay, but all the rooms were taken by the crew of the movie Congo, which was being filmed in the jungle nearby.
The proprietor was kind enough to give us a tour of the resort, which he had created from a dream and built and landscaped over 15 years. After petting the coatimundi, I reached up to pet a big toucan sitting on a low branch of a tree.
The toucan gently snatched the ring on my finger with its enormous yellow bill and started tugging at it. Our host laughed and told me these toucans were trained to steal gold. I guess he figured out my ring was silver because it released my finger and flew higher up in the tree.
*Coatimundis are in the raccoon family but are not nocturnal like raccoons, and they have funny snouts a little like pigs. The males are solitary and the females and their young band together in social groups of up to 25. The males only join them during mating season.
Jana Bouc, Artist 