Barkley

“There are only five real jobs in the world, teacher, fireman, policeman, doctor and someone working in the service. Everybody else should just chill out and enjoy life.” -Charles Barkley

Well put! I don't think he was talking about Life magazine or Life the board game, although both of them are occasionally enjoyable. I enjoyed a short moment of life last night when a fox came and sat on our porch for a few moments. Off in the woods, something was howling, and it was almost as if the fox was hiding from the howls on the porch. It had a look of alertness I rarely see. Just a fox, on its toes, looking into the darkness. I shined a flashlight on him through the window and he looked over. As it stared into the light, I watched the fox for a good minute or two and thought about how I could kill it. Then, I kept staring at it and tried to figure out why that particular idea jumped out at me. The chickens were safe, we were safe, Badger was safe and snoring and the fox looked as though it was the only unsafe creature around. Maybe I figured it is best to just play it safe, but there was a certain unmeasurable value to that fox staying alive. It visited me on a dark cold February night and came right up to my front door, and stood in front of the spot where I often eat breakfast and read magazines. I grabbed my phone and snapped a picture in attempt to capture the magic, but it was an impossible task. I was curious what the fox's next move would be. would he try and dig into the chicken coop? would he snuggle up on the porch and get some rest? would he stand up on two legs and ask me for a cup of sugar? anything was possible I was so mesmerized.

In the end, the fox ran off, back to the woods, to rejoin whatever beasts lie in the cold winter night. I laid down and went to bed with another thought in my head. Why did I want to kill the fox? The obvious answers don't quite explain the immediate urge I felt. A flag just dropped in my head convincing me that the fox was the enemy, but I don't think that's true. The fox brings a lot to the party. Just this internal discussion I am having with myself and trying to figure out via blog-post (it's therapeutic- alright!) has value, not to mention the enjoyment of staring at a wild fox trying to survive in the dead of winter. I would say it is more valuable than the $10 I spent to see Transformers.