Foxes and Fireworks

-

 Thursday night, we had just about fallen asleep when we heard screaming. We both sat up to listen.

S: you hear that right?

P: Yeah, sounds like an animal.

It was coming from behind our building, near the adjacent building's backyard area.

S: Or fireworks maybe? They've been going off all week.

P: No, that's an animal.  

Darn, I was hoping it wasn't an animal. 

P: Maybe someone left their dog outside in the cold.

And with that we were pulling on our warmest clothes to go out and investigate, which meant I was sporting my fleece Christmas leggings and leather jacket. 

It was close to midnight, so there was no one else outside. As soon as we got to the alley leading to the backyards, I heard it again, so I started jogging towards it. Pedro warned me to slow approach, so I got out my flashlight when I stepped into the shared backyards. We couldn't see anything, no people, animals, just grass. But then, out of the corner of my eye, I could see something move between the buildings back towards the sidewalks. In the street lights, I could tell it was a fox. I looked totally fine, trotting casually down the pavement. We didn't see anything else, so that must have been it.

I start to google "fox noise.." and autocomplete searches pop up

"fox noises at night" 

"fox screaming at night" 

"fox mating call at night"

Well, there it is. I'm reading the results as we walk back home and a neighbor steps out to walk her dog. The dog is definitely aware there is a fox around and the woman is telling him he's not allow to get it. J asks if her dog was barking, making the sound earlier.

Woman: That screaming noise just earlier?

We nod.

Woman: That was a fox. They're everywhere. 

Her dog then barks in the direction the fox went.

Woman: Aye, that's his bark. 

We had to laugh at ourselves. We suited up and ran out of the house, thinking we were on a mission to save some poor hurt animal. It was just a fox trying to find a mate. I looked up a video of a fox's mating call, and it's the exact scream we heard, so we laughed even more. 

____________________

Yesterday was Guy Fawkes Day, AKA Bonfire night.  It took me a bit to realize it was a national celebration day here.  We heard fireworks all week, like people were practicing for 4th of July or New Years.  Luckily, my google news and social media was showing me geographically relevant stories, or I'd have never figured it out.   I kept seeing "tips for calm pets and newborns on #Bonfire Night" and "How to safely watch the fireworks #GuyFawkesDay" 

Hint: Remember, remember, the 5th of November?  Well, while Americans are gearing up for Thanksgiving, people here are celebrating the death of a man, Guy Fawkes who tried to blow up parliament with barrels of gunpowder in the 1600s. So now effigies of the man are burned in bon fires and fireworks are set off all over the UK. 

Today the news stories are all about the firefighters who braved the night. The city's free display of fireworks were cancelled everywhere, which led to everyone doing their own.  I can't imagine the danger of people doing their own fireworks AND bonfires... Apparently the city is considering a laser show for next year as a safe, eco-friendly, pet-friendly alternative. I think it's a good idea if they can get everyone on board for it. At theme parks in Florida, people gather for the light shows at the Disney castle and for the Universal Studios' water and light shows.  It's all about the hype!

Popular posts from this blog

New Year, New Country

-
Image
In October, Pedro turned to me and said, "Pick a country and we'll go there for your birthday."  Immediate whirlwind of thoughts and ideas. Do we go somewhere with snow? Get warm? East? West?  At first I picked Iceland.  It's been on my list for awhile, and I figured January might have a greater chance for us to see some northern lights.  However, once we compiled a list of things we wanted to see and stuff we wanted to do, we realized winter was not going to be the best time for us to visit, so we pivoted.   Pedro's always wanted to visit Spain, see his roots.  And I thought it'd be great to visit a more Summery country when it's not so hot.  Barcelona it is!  And this trip was going to be different, as in an actually being a holiday. Relaxing, meandering, enjoying the sights instead of our usual GO GO GO.  We have a big habit of mapping out every second, and while it's great to cover so much ground in a short amount of time, we end up ...
Read more

Aeri de Montserrat

-
Image
 Today we had a late start, I was not feeling the best.  I had a pretty sore throat with a cough, so Pedro ran out to the nearest pharmacy to get me some cough syrup.  After some food, we made our way to Montserrat.  The metro sell all inclusive passes for the metro and train to Montserrat, with transport up the mountain to the abbey, along with all access to the basilica, museum and a meal. Not bad for a day trip!  There is a train or a cable car up to the mountain, which you must pre-book when buying the ticket.  We chose cable car for the views. It was about an hour train to the station just below the abbey, where we needed to wait for the cable car.  The ride was only 5 minutes to the top, though we didn't take into account it only fits about 20 people at a time.  So we were waiting for awhile, but at least we had a gorgeous view.  The view at the top felt larger than life.  The abbey built into the mountain looked perfectly nestled....
Read more

La Sagrada Familia

-
Image
We planned to revisit Montserrat to explore a bit more, but unfortunately I got worse overnight.  Fever, chills, and horrible coughing had us up have the night, with me having no energy to go anywhere the next morning.  Pedro went back to the pharmacy to get more medicine and cared for me all day, in the hopes I'd feel better for our tour today. Luckily, with my fever broken and strong foreign cough sweets, I was able to leave the hotel (walking slowly). But I was looking forward today, I was grateful he made me rest because I did not want to miss going back to La Sagrada Familia and see his reaction to it.   Our tour was guided through the church, with access one of the towers.  It being Three Kings Day, we had one of the last slots before the church closed early.  Three Kings Day is almost the equivalent of Christmas Eve, we saw many traveling with presents (as the Three Wise Men did).  I know this has been under construction since 1882, but last tim...
Read more