Sunday, February 22, 2009

Would You, Could You, With a Fox?

Oh, I probably don't have a whole lot to say today, but I had to share!

I had every intention of going to bed early last night, especially since I didn't manage to get my mandatory third trimester nap in yesterday. Instead, I decided I was going to "just really quickly check my email", then go to bed.
There is no such thing as "quickly" checking email, I have decided.

Long story short, I was up late emailing a response to a friend of mine. By the time I looked up, a couple hours had gone by and I am pretty sure that J was likely at the fire station, fuming about the fact that I hadn't called to say "good night" yet.
See, we have this family rule... he doesn't call me at night. Every time he does, the phone wakes up Beans, then we are all up late because after I get little Beans back off to bed, I call him back to holler at him for waking her up. (I know, very productive...)
The thing is... um, I had just received a stern husband lecture a few days ago about how I tend to get distracted by certain things (um, maybe email was mentioned, now that I think about it?), and that generally means that J is exhausted and tired, and waiting for me to call him, so he can go to bed.
I'll politely and kindly omit the fact that the other guys at the station have mentioned the late-night Halo games and other video game matches that run into the wee hours of the morning, and politely and kindly say that the "poor guy" isn't getting sleep because his wife isn't calling at a decent hour instead. *grin*

Well, J was actually pretty understanding about it (or maybe he knew better than to attempt to lecture his moody, pregnant wife again this week?).

I say all this to eventually get to my point...
As I was telling J all about our day, and the various other things that I was thrilled to be speaking to a grown adult about, the neighbor's dog startled me by barking up a storm. Looking out, I saw nothing, and went back to griping about how annoying that stupid mutt is.
A short time later, as I was gazing out the window, listening to J tell me about his day, I noticed a small, furry creature run through the yard.
My first thought was that the neighbor's dog had been allowed to run loose (and do his "duty") in my backyard again. When I didn't see a person chasing after the little mutt, I took a closer look, and found myself staring directly at a FOX.
This is not the first fox I've seen in Alaska, but it IS the first I've seen on base. He was a cute and precocious little guy... pale red, with tail fluffed out as he bounded through the snow. He stopped a few times to throw a snootful of snow into the air, and stopped to "alert" on a few neighborly dog droppings (in MY yard)... no doubt wondering who they belonged to... then ran off to the next yard, in search of food.

I wish I had grabbed the camera. But truthfully, I was so enthralled with watching him, that I didn't dare leave my post at the window and chance missing him scamper off. And no doubt he would have likely been gone before I could get back, open the door, and get a good picture of the little guy.

Thing is, I'm pretty sure he'll be back. J and I had noticed some tiny little tracks several weeks ago, from the tree line, into our yard, and back again. We had no idea who our frequent mystery visitor had been until last night... and now that we know, we'll be keeping a watch out for him again.

***

I just want to add... this is one of the things that I love about living here. You never know what you are going to get to see each day. Maybe I am still amazed by all this because I've spent so much time in cities through my life. But I never do get tired of the unadulterated nature of Alaska. I am amazed by wildlife that is completely oblivious to the presence of man.
As the sun rose over the mountains today (and we can see the mountains today, as it is clear, crisp, and sunny!), I opened the shades upstairs to let the light in, and stared down at little fix tracks, doing my best to see how far into the tree line they go, and hoped my little night visitor would come back during hours that I could show Beans this creature that she's only seen in books.

Not much else to say, and I have a nap to take....

SO until Next Time,
Happy Moose (and fox) trails!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Just wanted to say "Hi" and properly introduce myself...since I already left one comment on your site recently. I've swapped a few emails with Karla already. :-)

My husband and I live in the DFW area of TX and are seriously considering a move to Alaska. We grew up in Western Wash. so TX isn't really "home" to us eventhough we've been here in the south the last almost 15 yrs.

I spent most of last night reading almost your entire blog archives, I think I stopped around Oct. 31st of 2008, I was too tired to read anymore. lol

My youngest is only a few months younger than Beans. He just turned 1 almost a month ago. We also have 13 yr old, 9 yr old, and 5 yr old. Moving up there with 4 kids and 2 dogs is a bit...mind boogling. LOL

Oh, and I have to say...as much as you hated Bushy the squirrel, it was really funny to read about! LOL