Little Fox, Big Eyes

Saturday morning we were sitting on the deck and watching the birds when there was a burst of scurrying through leaves and up trees by the squirrels. As we glanced in the direction of the action we saw a little fox sitting and looking at us with eyes wide open as if to ask, “What are you?” The fox had a sense that squirrels were to be chased and caught, but he (or she?) was not sure about us – we were larger than squirrels. Lily and Lina were also on the deck with us and they regarded the fox as an intruder – as they bounded down the stairs the fox ran into the woods, away from the barking dogs.

We love these glimpses of joy in creation, yes, creation can be cruel thanks to the Fall, but that is on us and not on creation – creation knows enough to know that things ain’t as they should be (Romans Chapter 8), we, on the other hand, suppress that truth (Romans Chapter 1).

While we were living on the Zuck Homestead a fox chased Lily, then a puppy, onto the front porch and into the door with a “bang!” When Vickie opened the door to see what was the matter Lily pushed her out of the way and ran under the bed where she stayed for hours. Lily is no longer a puppy, and besides Lina was with her, so she could confidently charge down the deck and after the little fox on Saturday morning.

Once again on the Zuck Homestead, a fox chased one of Davey and Sally’s cats onto their front porch, little did the fox know that Wallace, their rat terrier, was on the porch – no doubt enjoying a siesta. One moment the fox was chasing the cat and the next the dog was chasing the fox – do not wake up a rat terrier from pleasant dreams, do not chase a family member of a rat terrier onto a porch…just as William Wallace fought against all odds, Wallace the Zuck terrier fights against all odds – the little dog chased the big fox and the big fox ran away.

Joy in the midst of steel and concrete and asphalt and plastic and poisons and cacophony – we’ll take what we can get and be thankful for it while we still have it. 

Fledgling Delight

It’s the time of year when fledglings figure out who they are; the little cardinals bop around on the ground wondering why the adults are at the feeders – the mourning doves are on the ground, shouldn’t little cardinals be on the ground too?

Lily was lying on the front porch when a baby titmouse landed two feet from her – Lily looked at the bird and the bird looked at Lily as if to say, “What are you?” When Lily didn’t answer the bird flew away.

On the deck were two fledgling wrens, it had just rained and they were wet. They flew onto the wood furniture and spread their little wings out to dry, all the while a parent looked on – we watched and the parent watched.

As I walked to the vegetable garden I stopped to gaze on three fledgling thrushes hopping on the ground, one with a worm in its mouth. In a nearby evergreen two adult thrushes looked on; after a minute or two I made a step and the little ones flew into the tree with the adults.

Thank you Father for your creation – thank you for the delight you give us through creation. What joy, what pleasure, what beauty, what tenderness. 

A Picture of Society?

In the world it is called Tolerance, but in hell it is called Despair...the sin that believes in nothing, cares for nothing, seeks to know nothing, interferes with nothing, enjoys nothing, hates nothing, finds purpose in nothing, lives for nothing, and remains alive because there is nothing for which it will die.

Dorothy L. Sayers