He was just chilling there, soaking up some sun and enjoying the freshly cut grass.  I ran around the house, trying to find my camera, or my phone, or something to document it.  And Rusby, sensing there was something outside that had my attention, immediately started pacing in front of the door and barked a few times.  

But the fox, he didn’t care.  He just lounged for a little bit, taking some time to scratch himself.

I have seen foxes in the streets here before, and even in London.  They are, for the most part, pretty human shy and make themselves scarce whenever we are around.  And they really only come out at night.  But this one gave me about 10 minutes of viewing time in daylight.

I imagine my excitement is similar to how Pedram would feel to see a raccoon in Seattle — everyone there considers them pests, but they are still a novelty for him.  And I know Brightoners don’t always love foxes, but I found this one fascinating.  Look!  He does downward dog!!

Check out that tail!  I called my dad to tell him, and at first he thought perhaps I had seen a large cat.  But then I sent him a picture, and he called back to say that maybe this fox was sick, which is why it was so bold to be in our yard in the middle of the day.  But a little bit of internet research reassured me that he was okay.  

And I wasn’t going to disturb him, as he wasn’t doing anything suspicious or disturbing anything.  I just watched him do his thing for a few minutes, and then he yawned and was on his way.

It is sometimes hard to find nature here.  Real, unbridled nature, other than the sea.  There are some birds, but the seagulls seem like they have completely evolved to be a humanized species.  A professional gardener came by and told us that half of the plants in our yard are from New Zealand.  All the plants and trees are planted.  Everything seems adapted from its origins to fulfill some sort of human purpose.  And perhaps foxes in England are like raccoons in Seattle, they love the urban centers because we leave garbage for them neatly in bags on the street.  

But this one reminded me of the many documentaries I have seen about foxes on the National Geographic channel.  It is still somehow wild and instinctual, even in my backyard.

I loathe factory farming.  Yet, I am not a vegetarian.  I do, however, try to limit my meat intake, and try to only purchase from local farmers.  We actually talk to the farmers, about the animals diets, their habitat, etc.  As a result, we pay twice as much for our meat, which is another reason we eat less of it.

I have always had a problem with animals in captivity, and animals in zoos and marine “pools” that confine them and prevent them from living their lives fully, even knowing that some of these efforts are not in vain, and for conservation purposes.  But the tragic death of a SeaWorld trainer reminds me again why animals, such as Orca whales, should not be in captivity.

I don’t doubt that SeaWorld and their marine biologists do some great things for wildlife conservation and education, but I can’t help but hope that these entertainment zoos and parks will soon become a distant memory.  Animals who live in captivity often get sick and killer whales, on average, live 20 years in captivity, as opposed to a female in the wild who will live into their 50s.  These are highly intelligent creatures who are stressed because they are forced into spaces that go against their instincts — no natural social groups, chemically treated water, inability to travel freely in an ocean.  I read one article that talked about the killer whales need to travel in straight lines as opposed to being forced to swim in circles in a tank.  Most animals in captivity have breeding problems, emotional distress, problems eating and behaving as they would in the wild.  It is not our place to interfere.

This also applies to “swim with dolphins” in Hawaii, and any of the those “feed sharks” adventures in South Africa I’ve seen. It just isn’t right for us to manipulate animals for our entertainment, and I don’t think it is entertaining.  It all makes me sad.

But, then again, I am a little animal crazy.

That is the entire post today – I’ve been thinking about it for a while.

PS – Pigeons freak me out.  Any animal with shifty eyes and occasional missing feet are creepy.

PPS – My dad, on the other hand, loves pigeons, and when I told him they are freaky animals, spent two hours explaining to me how smart pigeons are.  And then to demonstrate, brought them closer to feed out of his hand.

PPPS – In case you don’t believe this, you should read about Cher Ami.  Very impressive.

A small disclaimer about myself. I feel bad for things, and often choose to purchase the least desirable product out of a sense of responsibility and pity.  For example, at the market I often take the overripe fruits, or the ugliest vegetables, because otherwise, no one else would.  Or when we picked up Shazdeh, his black and gold brother was definitely more attractive, but I wanted Shazdeh because his coloring was less popular.  So when it came to adopting a dog, I knew automatically I would fall in love with the one who has been there the longest and was the least desirable.  And it would be my duty to take that dog.

However, both Pedram and the SPCA didn’t think that would be the best idea.  Eventhough I had already fallen in love with Shadow, a lab/german shepherd mix stray who was picked up at a park in July, and has been at the SPCA ever since.  She has never lived in a home, was a little coo-coo, and needed about 10 hours of training a day.  She is stunningly beautiful, but the SPCA thinks because she is all black, she is not as attractive to prospective dog owners.  Also, she has a little bit of crazy in her eyes.

Luckily, the adoption counselors at the SPCA found another dog for us.  A smaller, calmer, affectionate dog who was three years old, already house trained and probably the most mellow, lovable dog they have had in their care in a long time.  His past owner left him alone for the majority of the day, and then went to the hospital and forgot about the dog.  So the SPCA had to find him another home where he could get some more attention, and lets just say Pedram and I thought he was pretty fantabulous.  All he asks is that we pet him and show him a little bit of affection.  Which we do.

Sadly, before we could give him any affection, we had to chop off his nuts.  And when we brought him home last night, he had to wear a cone around his head.  We have no clue what kind of dog he is — a mix of at least 3-4 different breeds.  Meet the newest funny looking member of our family:

Due to our nostalgia for Brussels where he could have pooped freely without us having to pick it up, we decided to name him

Eugene Flagey Ixelles van Ruisbroek

but you can just call him Rusby, for short.

Walking a dog sounds very romantic for a dog-lover such as myself, but the dogs that usually end up at the SPCA are larger than my little min-pin and have so much more energy than I could possibly ever control.  After my first experience of being knocked to the ground repeatedly by 140 pound rottweiller/pitt bull/boxer/monster mix, I came home, bruised and exhausted, and immediately taped and watched every episode of the Dog Whisperer I could find.  Seems like I need more training to be a pack leader — such as this guy:

Do you see what he is doing to that pittbull???  Part of my job is to put a choker over the dogs head before taking him out, and let me tell you, my hand were shaking putting a choker around a pitt bull’s mouth.  (side note — pitt bulls are by far the coolest animals I get to walk.  they are sweet and obedient and have a undeserved reputation.  On another note, german shepards are crazy)

So I returned to the SPCA again, repeating to myself — calm, assertive energy, calm, assertive energy.  Basically I need to project this, and the dogs will be putty in my hands.  It worked!!  Except, then the dog would test my energy a few times, and I’d failed miserably, and then I’d spend the next 15 minutes being tackled by incredibly intimidating dogs.  But whenever I was able to fool them (and myself) that I was the pack leader, I’d make them sit, and take a picture of them.

I am almost positive that the only reason we don’t have 10 dogs living at our house right now is that I am oblige to pick up doggy doo doo.  And since I do the relief walk in the mornings, the dogs basically wait for me to open their kennel door, then drag me outside to relieve themselves and then watch me pick up their gigantic poop.  I’d like you to see you try to maintain that you are the pack leader while carrying around a dog’s feces.

Almost every dog I walk I fall in love with.  It is so easy, eventhough they are not puppies and some are not even that cute — but they are all so eager for love and attention and a little stimulation.  Most of the dogs are trained, very affectionate and would make a great companion.  They have been evaluated by vets, have been receiving basic training, and need a home.  I am almost more sad to see the same dogs week after week than to see them leave.  And there are SO many cats as well.  I would recommend anyone who is looking for a dog or cat to visit their local humane society…there are just too many good animals out there looking for a home.

Or, that it has built a web and I cannot get free, and it is slowly making its way towards me.  I can feel the web shaking with its movement.

These large spider dreams are all new, usually I dream that a mid-sized one is slowly coming down a line of web from the ceiling, usually close to my face.

As many of you know, I have a problem differentiating between fantasy and reality when I am sleeping, and it takes a great deal to convince me that there is no spider in the room, or a web surrounding us.  I shouldn’t have posted those photos…

May 3
Location: Moremi
Our routine here is to wake up at dawn before 5am – which is okay because we sleep at 9:30pm.  Yesterday we saw a lion herd up close while they finished off a buffalo carcass and when they were done, they laid around and groomed each other, rolling on their bellies and eyeing us lazily.

It rained all night with startling lightening and thunder and so many animal noises – impalas, lions, elephants and zebras.  I am so excited (and scared), I can’t sleep.

Later…
We are now hanging out watching a leopard nap.  It just rolled over, I could stare at it forever.  Like the lions, she exudes laziness and grace simultaneously.  It is amazing to just stay in one place and stare at such beauty.

May 4
Location: Stuck in mud puddle – Moremi
Last night after dinner we were hanging around the campfire when MT – the guide (who was AMAZING) heard something.  At first he thought it was cats at a distance.  A little later, he shone his flashlight at the bushes 10 meters away and there were two sets of eyes staring intently at us.  Basically, he told us in a calm but serious voice to calmly get into our tents – NOW! So we did.  Turned out it was just hyenas.  Great – that makes me feel better.

MT is a great guide.  He can track animals from quite a distance, and can even smell them before we see them.  He is a great resource of information of everything from the stars to the wild plants.

In anticipation of the unbelievable warm Montreal summer that everyone RAVES about, a summer so spectacular that the entire population suddenly has short term memory loss of the fierce winters they lived through, a warmth supposedly SO intense that for the first time in my life, I have thought about the necessity of air conditioning at home, I only packed capris and tank tops.  The first day we had torrential downpour that forced us to spend time between coffee shops and coffee shop awnings until we made it back home, completely drenched.  We did not pack umbrellas.  The second day it was clear and cold with severe wind.  I put on no less that SIX layers to try to avoid the wind, layering tank tops and short sleeve and long sleeve shirts and the only sweater I have with a shawl to keep from freezing.  Apparently the phenomenal summer is coming….later.

However, I was not crying for any of those reasons.  I was crying because Marley was dying, and even though I knew it was coming, because everyone who read the book or watched the movie told me so, I couldn’t help but let the tears build up while he was aging, and for the sobbing to commence while reading the final few moments of his life.

Once he figured out why I was crying, Pedram’s compassion turned into more disbelief that I could get so emotional about an animal.  I can’t wait until he develops a strong relationship to a dog and then I’ll shove this book under his nose and say  “now lets see how you hold up”.

The trip was absolutely amazing, to the point that I have been sitting here for an hour trying to figure out the words that could explain it.  First things first, it made absolutely ALOT of sense, and I encourage everyone to do similar non-sensical trips if they can.  I really enjoyed our 9 days in South Africa, being with friends and then driving along the oceans from one quaint town to another.  I was in awe of the cliffs, the beaches, the seals, penguins and other animals, the trees and landscapes that caused me to gasp in awe more than once.  Our infinite to-do lists were easily forgotten.

Our time in Botswana and Zambia is what I am really struggling to describe.  Have you ever experienced one of those trips where every breath you take seems to fill your lungs with excitement, you are overwhelmed simultaneously by the serenity of nature and the full, vital force it provides?  We spent 9 days camping in national game parks and reserves, spending time simply observing the beauty of nature the surrounded us.  It was one of those surreal experiences, like watching Planet Earth on the Discovery Channel, except this time I FELT it, I could SMELL it, and seeing it with my own eyes made all the difference in the world.  More than once I felt extreme gratitude for all of God’s gifts.

In desperation to capture those feelings, we took many many pictures, some of which I will post here.  On our way back I was already feeling the nostalgia for the trip, one of those once in a lifetime experiences that I will cling to for as long as I can.  It is not that I would want to live in the bush for the rest of my life, but I just want to hold on to that feeling for a little longer.

More will come later as we are leaving for Montreal on Friday and there is plenty to do.