Maria and I are off for a two-day silent meditation retreat, and we both need it. Lots of stuff going on in my life. Move to a new place, talking to banks, taking photos of foxes, looking for a new border collie, selling Bedlam Farm (ad goes up in the New York Times Classified Real Estate Section this afternoon), talking to breeders, talking to my agent, finishing up my first E-Book original, “The Story Of Rose,” to go on sale in July, wherever e-books are sold, planning for “Dancing Dogs” working on my children’s book, “Simon Says Good Night.” Time for quiet, thought. See ya Sunday.
Exciting seeing this wild creatures. A lot of people are touched by how cute these creatures are, and they are, for sure, but I remind myself they are all little killing machines, romping just yards from the cats and chickens on the farm. I think you just have to let go of some attitudes, one of them being that I have the right to wipe out an animal family. Being a male, I am especially conscious of not assuming I have the right to bludgeon or kill things. But I have absorbed a lot of the farmer ethic, and anything that comes through my fences looking to eat things is not cute to me. There is no way I could kill the mother and father now, surely not the babies. So that is it, really. Not much of a decision.
I’m not sure what the line is, I think there really isn’t one. I’ll have plenty of time to chew on it, as Maria and I are going off on a two-day meditation retreat in Vermont. Will be back Sunday.
— I talked with a border collie breeder today I admire and know, Dr. Karen Thompson, a minister and long-time border collie breeder and advocate. She has a five-year old trained working dog with a great Irish history and good temperament. Don’t know if I want a puppy or an older dog, but I sure love her attitude, commitment, and her website. And here’s a sweet twist. She met me a few years ago when I was working with Orson and Rose at Raspberry Ridge Sheep Farm in Pennsylvania as I began to get into border collies. She is the real deal. I like her Red Dog.
Note: You are free to use these images in any way you wish, to print them out, as screensavers or for any purpose that works for you. We all need to be reminded of the beauty and power of the natural world.
Just for the record, that gray above the kit’s heads is the farmhouse. We have five foxes living 400 yards from our chickens. As my friend and photo tyrant Christine Glade said on Facebook, she hopes my chicken budget is large. I have to confess that sometimes I think more like a photographer than a writer, or a normal human. Once my neighbor Adam told me where the den was, I began obsessing on equipment, not life or death animal decisions. Maria and I got up at 5:30 and grabbed a banana, an apple. I took my Canon and two lenses, the 300 mm, which I used for the shot above (and almost sold last week) and the smaller 70-200 mm.
I thought if I got anywhere near them, I did not want one of those tiny and grainy shots. I wanted to see into the soul of a fox. I wanted to see their eyes. Almost impossible, I thought. I didn’t really imagine I would see the babies out in the open playing. We did not have to wait too long. We lay down, stayed still and I inched closer. At some point, I entered their comfort zone and the most vigilant – the one above – moved the others into the den. Seeing this was a transformative experience. It really changed the way I look at the world, as photography has done all along for me. And I have learned enough – I was restless because the sun was in my face, not over my back and moved until I could see there would not be glare. Maria was in awe of the moment, she said, and I was thinking, “wow, I think I got it.” And this: I picked the right lens! It was a very powerful experience, thought, bringing me into the nature world in a new and powerful way. I have to sort it out, but I will see things differently from now on. The intensity of the eyes really got into my head. More photos coming.
So the oldest chapter has a new story. There are two foxes, a male and a female, and three kits, and we found the den this morning – thanks to our good neighbor and friend Adam Matthews – and after lying quietly for awhile, the babies came out to play wrestle,and then eventually, stare at Maria and I. Adam is a seasoned and skilled hunter, but he called me yesterday to tell me he had found the den and that he could not bring himself to shoot the the foxes, who have been hunting his cats for days. Like all Bedlam Farm animals, the kits seemed to like the camera, although when we edged closer, they vanished into their den, which was littered with bones, feathers and the body parts of rabbits, dead deer, turkeys and probably our two lost chickens. The den is right at the top of the pasture, and looks right down on the farm (I’ll post some more photos in a bit, here and on a Facebook Album.)
Adam and I agreed. These foxes get a pardon. I couldn’t shoot them either, not now. We will just have to keep a careful eye on the cats and the chickens and wait for the foxes to move away, which they probably will in a few weeks. Sometimes you can beat nature or stave it off, sometimes you just have to live with it, respect it, surrender to it. I am reading up on foxes, and they are enchanting, mysterious, intelligent and very sexual creatures.
“Psychologically,” writes Elizabeth Caspari, author of “Animal Life In Nature, Myth and Dreams,” the fox is our very own trickster, which cleverly evades a difficult situation – much the same way the sexual impulse pops up, often making or camouflauging anxieties, aggressions and fears. In dreams, the fox, a master escapist, can be an apt symbol of the impulse to avoid potentially painful insights.” I have they say they have sure tricked me this time, and come up with the best possible escape. How clever a spot for their den.
They will live right under my nose – Adam or I could easily kill them – but I can no longer imagine doing such a thing. Maria smirked, and said, “well, I guess these tough farmer men are coming around to Maria’s way of thinking.” Guess so.
