Reverberation

The spring on the door reverberates. Freedom of the outdoors, a chill in Spring air. Minecraft becomes an imaginary sport. Boys swinging wooden branches - their swords, smacking the bark of innocent trees. We watch from our loungers on the screened-in deck. Dusk waits to enter the stage as the boys rush from the upper yard, down the stairs then up onto the deck and go inside as we hang back. The inside screen snapped in place. Us ladies converse about this and that. Interrupted by the quickness of a red fox, social distancing, yet very close. He darts, headed for the front yard. She jumps to go inside and bounces off the screen. We laugh and run into the living space - to the long windows, and see the creekbound animal stop to bury treasure in my canted yard. We return to the deck with the boys. The mundane interspersed with excitement. We ponder what meaty part or animal bone’s preserved for another day — a squirrel perhaps, a bunny, a cat. We strategize over what to do with a closer encounter of the wild kind. The little one whips out a pretend gun. “Now,” mama says, “ that’s not the way. We stay very still especially if the fox is unaware of us.” Unaware of us, but we are utterly aware of his rugged beauty, his bushy tail, the fact that he’s not a tame dog or cat. Later, kin asks if I snapped a picture. I would have had to venture outdoors, the tricky fox nearly hidden behind the tree, near the bottom of the hill. However my mind snapped a few, to be stashed in my dendrite album, and I know my ruddy neighbor will return for his forage of food. Perhaps I will catch a bite, speedily snapping a moment, ken to the fact that my phone’s not up to the task. 4/29/2020