Thursday, October 22, 2009

My New Pets

"Who can believe that there is no soul behind those luminous eyes!" ~ Theophile Gautier




Last week my coworker Lindsey looked at me and said, "You don't look so great." She was right. I was getting really sick.

I went home for the day, picking up things to make chicken noodle soup at the store. I also picked up a parsley plant, because I have been doing some research and it is a superior food.

So my soup was bubbling and I was in the backyard planting parsley, when I heard a rustle in the bushes. I looked up, expecting to see a wild bunny, but instead the figure of something much larger than a bunny loomed in the growth. I shrieked, used a very unladylike phrase, ran in the house, and slammed the door.

As I looked longingly through the window at my parsley that I desperately wanted to continue planting, curiosity got the better of me. I crept around the side of the house. I removed my shoes and scaled the air conditioner up to the top of the wall. All of this with a runny nose, mind you. I scooted along the wall in my work dress. If the neighbors had come out at that time it would have been bad, as an inappropriate amount of my legs was showing. But I had to know what the creature in my back yard was.

Then I saw it. It had come out into the open, and was standing it all its glory before a pile of trimmings. At first I thought it was a coyote, but no, it was much too lovely to be a coyote. It was a fox. A gray haired, red trimmed fox, waiting for a bunny to emerge from the trimmings.

I stared at it for a long time, feeling like Dances with Wolves, because this is not the sort of thing you expect to see in your back yard.

I took a picture of the fox. Isn't it a beauty? Good thing Theo and Pepper were safely indoors. When I crept closer for a better shot, the fox just leaped over the wall. It was a marvel to see. I had no idea there were foxes in Arizona much less my backyard, nor did I know that they leaped over fences. The day was full of discovery.




This morning a little kitty found me. I named her Marzipan, or Marzy for short, which kind of suits her because she's a little "out there". I named her for that song that goes:

She thinks she missed the train to Mars, she's out back counting stars

(name that band)

Because I found her in my back yard. And also I happened to have that song in my head today. And Mars just kind of led to Marzipan. I don't actually know if it is a girl. If I find that kitty is a boy, I will name him Alex.



PS I miss Libby and Koder.

"Thousands of years ago, cats were worshipped as gods. Cats have never forgotten this."
~ Anonymous

2 comments:

Unknown said...

So are you keeping Marzy? That gray fox is gorgeous! And that's Hum, of course! :)

I miss Libby and Koda, too.

Jayme said...

WOW! I can't believe that it was a fox! The adventures of Tiff! They never end!