I was up early to take Pam to the airport. It was dark when we left, and just getting light as we arrived at the National Airport terminal. By the time I arrived back in Silver Spring, day had fully arrived.
As I turned from Dale Drive onto Harvey Road, a fox crossed the street, heading east from our neighbor's yard to the hill slope landscaping on the other side of the street.
This was a big animal, in prime condition. Strutting across the street, tall and alert, dog-sized, but instantly recognizable as not a dog - reddish brown in color, slender face with pointed snout and ears, long legs beneath a streamlined body - and then that huge, bushy tail that looks like a full half of the animal.
Every time I encounter something unexpected like this, I wonder how many other wonderful things are going on all around that I'm not in the right place at the right time to see.
I'm reminded of the value of being present; of being aware of what is around me and able to appreciate it with my full attention. Not just a glimpse of a fox crossing the street and interrupting whatever story is spinning in my brain - whether rehashing events of yesterday, thinking about all the things I "need" to do today, or fast-forwarding to an expected busy week at work.
How much better to see the fox and fully experience the few seconds it took to stare down my car, cross the street, and disappear in the dense plantings.
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