reynard the fox

July 16, 2010 / 2 Comments

My Fox

I saw my fox. Those 4 little words say more than I can. I saw my fox again last night. It was late, after 1 am and we were getting ready to go bed and something told me to go to the window and raise the blinds, looking into the dark alleyway across the street, I saw a glisten of fur as sparkles of light from the street lamp behind the trees danced around the pavement as the wind blew the leaves.

It was him, I knew he was there. We are connected you see, he and I. I called my adorable red-head over to have a look and patiently we waited. Our patience paid off, a few mintues later he came out of the alley and started to walk up the street. He knew, we were there, peeking out at him from the window screen and he just looked at us. His eyes intense and all-knowing. He started to continue on his stroll, but stopped, ears perked and then gracefully turned around and went the other way.

A person was coming down the main street, he heard it before we saw it. It was magical. Again, there are no pictures. But, that is how it is meant to be between us I suppose. It is just our time together when the rest of the world is tucked away in their beds.

(Image found on Flickr. I know that it is a Christmas Image, but 1) I love Christmas 2) At home there is always Christmas in July Sales & 3) I like to think that, in fact I know, that my fox would look very dapper with a bandanna around his neck)

February 28, 2010 / 0 Comments

We are Living in a Technological World

We headed into Central London yesterday morning and as the train rolled down the tracks I looked around me. Okay, the day wasn’t perfect, there were some rain drops falling, but at this moment the sky was clear, the sun was shining, everything looked lush and green, a few blooms along the way showing that Spring could be on its way…

Everyone in our car section was talking away or sitting silently, concentration furrowing their brow. They weren’t talking to each other though or concentrating on reading a book; they were all, every single one of them with a phone in hand. Even my adorable red-head, was finishing off a game before he tucked it away to talk to me.

I could just feel the bangle, diamond, dripping lace cladded Madonna singing “We are Living in a Material World”, however I am not a Material Girl. I say this with a grain of salt because I know that I am a Blogger. But, I have my limits. Here was a perfectly beautiful day, the train was on time (sometimes a rarity) and not one soul was talking to each other or looking out the window.

Have we become so technologically advanced in this world we feel we don’t need anyone else, that we can shut ourselves off from everyone by hiding behind our technology? Now, I know I could talk the hind legs of a mule, but I am quite happy in silence, just watching, just observing. I hope that I never become so technologically advanced that I forget to look around me, to take in the sights, sounds and smells. To just sit quietly or talking hand-in-hand with my man as we ride on down the rails.

On a happier and less ranting note, Cath Kidston had the gorgeous material I have been after and so I stocked up on some, I have great plans for this: I am making a yoga mat bag, if I can bring myself to bring my scissors anywhere near this sweet pattern.

And we visited a store we have yet to discover, I LOVE this about London, no matter how long I have lived here and how well I know my way around the big streets, the side streets, the cut-throughs, there are still things to discover. We found La Fromagerie and I am in LOVE. Gorgeous cheese, Poilane bread, beautiful white bowls filled with candied fruits, fresh produce.

We slid back the heavy glass barn door to enter the cheese room, it was just everything you would have wanted! Walking in there was heaven! I could have just sat down right there on the floor with my fresh Poilane bread in hand, a knife to smear on goats cheese and lived in happiness for eternity.

(The image used was only an example, I have nothing against Apple, I am a Mac girl through and through, thanks to my husband, I have left the world of PCs and gone to the Dark Side…the images of La Fromagerie are copyright to them, since we forget the camera)

P.S. It must have been a truly foxy kind of week, because while entering Anthropologie and heading upstairs I found this vintage children’s playing card made into a greeting card and he decided he wanted to come home with me, so he did….

February 25, 2010 / 0 Comments

At times I am an insomniac, I lay my head down on my pillow and it is as if there is a little electric spark that shoots into me and the wheels in my mind begin to rapidly turn. Last night was one of those nights.

As I lay in bed my sweet redhead asleep beside me I heard an awful screaming noise. So at 2 something in the morning I got up and went to the window. I was afraid it was a muntjac that was caught in the fence across the road. The screeching sounded like one of their calls.

As I peered out into the night, I saw nothing and all was still. But, I caught a glimpse of something in the parking lot across the street, something that just glistened as a a tree sprinkled the light around from the street lamp above. It was my fox, my Reynard.

I wrote my Master’s thesis on the medieval depictions of Reynard imagery as a teaching/morality tool in both the secular and nonsecular worlds. I have always had a soft spot for the fellow. There he was, wandering around, I watched him, he didn’t seem to be in any distress, so I still didn’t know where the noise had come from. I have been lucky enough to see him a few times over the years. I am always struck by the fact that in front of me is something truly wild, strolling down the main street that by day is crowded with people and cars.

He walked to the fence, but the shiny dark green painted bars were too close together for him to slip through, so he jogged gracefully over to the parking lot entrance, I wanted so badly to run downstairs and get my camera, but I couldn’t, I didn’t want to miss him, I was grounded to this spot.

He disappeared for a moment behind some hedges and then suddenly there he was just standing at the entrance, looking majestic, his long tail billowing out from behind him, the wind brushing his fur around. He looked up; he looked at me, as if he knew all along I had secretly been watching him from my bedroom window. We just watched each other for I am sure what were mere seconds, but felt like long minutes. He was beautiful.

Then, he turned right and headed down deeper into the neighborhood and vanished into the darkness. I have no pictures to show for it, but that makes it even sweeter, it was our secret, our moment, when the rest of the world was sleeping.