The Foreshadowing Fox

In early autumn of 2019, I saw my first real fox. I was thrown back by how striking and majestic it was. I was on the bus going to work and we passed by this area that is sparsely wooded and there before my very eyes, was a gorgeous and breathtaking red fox. She or he, I wouldn't know, was perched on a log adjacent to a bus stop and staring straight ahead, as if it was waiting for something. It felt like our eyes locked. I was stunned. It's not a remote area, it's suburban with a few scattered green spaces and a busy transit route to boot. I was awestruck and honored all the same time. I stared intently until I was out of view. It was fast but it was slow. It was important.

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I started to see foxes everywhere after that. My grandson was born that month, and everywhere I went to shop for him, foxes were the emerging trend on bibs and on crib sets and t-shirts. It wasn't limited to just children's items. In the mall, as I perused, foxes appeared on mugs, on tote bags and cushions.

I wondered, what is the meaning of seeing all these foxes, real and improvised? I had started to randomly sing to myself that catchy Norwegian megahit song, "What does the fox say?"

However, seriously, I wanted to know, what was it trying to say? When I looked up the meaning, what struck me foremost was what Stephanie Rose Olson wrote in her blog, "As a spirit animal, the fox reveals itself during times of great and unpredictable change."

It was only a few months later after the wondrous fox sighting that COVID19 hit. It all then tied together for me, aaaaah, so that's what fox was trying to say?! Something is coming and boy, it was unexpected indeed. How wild!

I wasn't the only one who this creature crossed paths with. A colleague of mine also mentioned seeing the harbinger in her area as well, which took her by surprised, as it was her first sighting as well.

To shake ourselves out of the prolonged cabin fever, my boyfriend and I would go on long car rides, and twice, we were gifted with seeing these darting foxes on the side of the road.

However, interestingly enough, when COVID19 was dying down, we were on our way back from a long drive from out of town and suddenly traffic slowed and I could see ahead of us a dark shadowy outline of an animal that was pacing back and forth in front of the slew of cars. The cars would edge by as the fox crossed to one side of the road before it would venture back to the other side. It looked like to me as if it was pacing. When we approached, I was brought back to the first time I locked eyes with this creature. I looked into its eyes, there was an exchange, a knowing and then it jolted away into the woods. Traffic resumed, the sun was still shining and then a few days later, the 2nd wave of COVID19 restrictions were in place. Obviously, we weren't out of the woods yet.

Animals, all animals, relay messages to us. If we're aware and understand that a thread of connectivity runs through everything on this planet and beyond.

It could be warning, a heads-up, a sign of encouragement to keep going, but I won't ever forget that the fox foreshadows.

Closeup photo of a fox by howling red in Unsplash