TheBanyanTree: Foxeys

[Janice Money]

That's lovely.  Just lovely!  Thank you very much.

Janice

-----Original Message-----
From: thebanyantree-bounces at lists.remsset.com
[mailto:thebanyantree-bounces at lists.remsset.com] On Behalf Of Tom Smith
Sent: Monday, 18 July 2011 3:38 AM
To: Banyan Tree
Subject: TheBanyanTree: Foxeys

I walk a couple miles pre-dawn, returning home just before daylight.  The
stillness, silence and darkness deliciously heighten my senses.  I wear a
yellow reflective vest and white cap and walk slightly to the left of the
center of the streets. 
I always carry a camera, a cellphone, and a "Tactical Pen" in my shirt
pocket, just in case..  This morning I walked through a closed park,
detouring around a locked gate, through a wide opening in chain link fence
in a creek-side hidden corner. By the time I got there my night-vision was
fully operational.  I could make out three strands of barbwire running along
the top of the fence, above the gaping hole I stepped upright through.
I followed a well-worn and discernable path through dead wild oats and other
native plant life.  For the first time in my experience, I encountered a fox
or coyote in that park.  All I could make out was a silhouette, long, low
and black, crossing the path ahead and climbing a rise to the right.  Then
another followed the first one.  When I reached the point these critters
crossed the path I looked in the direction they had gone and saw one of them
looking back at me.  I reached for the digital camera and turned it on, but
by that time, my fellow interloper in the park had disappeared.  Camera
still in hand, I figured, what the heck, I'll take a picture anyhow, just
for memory sake.  The flash reflected two bright eyes between long pointed
ears looking back at me.  What a delight!  What a delight to have this
beautiful animal more curious than afraid of me.

Image at http://www.flickr.com/photos/9482738@N07/5946593813/