One of the things that appealed to me the most about the apartment complex I eventually chose to move to was its location. Shortening my commute to and from work was critically important to me, but there are tons of apartment complexes that meet that criteria ... in fact, there are a whole bunch of them not far from where I live. What I instantly loved about the complex I chose, however, wasn't the fact that it's much closer to work ... though I'm totally digging my seven-minute commute to and from work ... what I instantly loved was that it felt like I was out in the woods rather than in the middle of the city.
I thought for sure the maintenance guy was just pulling my leg when he told me the week after I moved in that humans and their domesticated pets weren't the only creatures living in the woodsy-feeling apartment complex. He had a bit of a twinkle in his eye when he talked about the "raccoon subway," and a wide grin spread across his face as he rattled off the names he had bestowed upon the resident family of deer. But when I asked him if there was a walking trail through the woods, he reached out to pet Ollie's furry head and said, "Yes maam, there is, but you shouldn't take this little guy out in the woods. I've seen bobcats and foxes out there, and then there's the snakes, too." The minute he said the "s" word, I decided right then and there that my little wiener dog and I would be sticking to the pavement on our walks ... snakes scare the living poop out of me.
It only took a few weeks for my skepticism regarding the validity of the kind, older gentleman's description of the animal kingdom I had unknowingly moved into to disappear. It was during the holidays, and I was stretched out on my couch reading a book when I noticed what I first thought was a dog trotting down the street in front of my apartment. I quickly realized that the furry reddish creature that was loping down the street was not a dog but a fox. He was a good-sized fellow, and the white at the end of his long slender tail stood in stark contrast to the cinnamon red of his coat. I quietly opened the sliding glass door and walked onto my deck so that I could see where the sly old fox was heading. I watched quietly as he glided down the street and into the woods, and I wondered if he was cold when I saw him burrow down into a pile of leaves. Within a matter of seconds, however, I realized that Mr. Fox was not cold at all ... he was hungry. I'll spare you the details, but a few minutes later, Mr. Fox headed back up the street with a lifeless squirrel dangling from his mouth.
The mind is such a funny thing ... it's been weeks since I stood on my deck and watched old Mr. Fox score his dinner, but it was only last night that he decided to make an appearance in my dreams. I'm not sure why, but I had one of those super intense "I really miss my big dog Julie" days yesterday. I miss that old girl a lot, but yesterday I missed her an extra lot. My sweet Jules was hands-down one of the happiest dogs I've ever known ... she was always ready and willing to play or snuggle on my lap or wrestle with Ollie. For people who say that dogs can't smile ... well ... those people never met my Julie girl. I dream about her every now and then, and most often those dreams are happy ones. But last night, I dreamed that Julie was in the woods with Mr. Fox, and it was not a happy dream at all. Again, I'll spare you the details, but I woke up in a cold sweat because Mr. Fox had done to my beautiful hound what he had done to the squirrel.
The terrifying dream has marched through my mind countless times today even though I tried my best to keep it at bay. It struck me this evening that maybe I can't get the dream out of my head because there's something I'm supposed to learn from it ... some wisdom or lesson or truth I'm meant to understand, though if that's the case, I haven't figured out what it is yet. Unless ... maybe ... maybe my dream was to make me search my heart and think about whether I'm the fox or the hound in the way I treat others. Do I lie in wait for the opportunity to attack or do I smile, wag my tail and try to make others happy? When others are wounded and bleeding, do I go in for the kill or do I do everything I can to care for them and help them to heal?
Fox or hound ... which one are you, friend ... which one are you?
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