Saturday, October 11, 2025

Ideas and More Fox Footage


Here's another view of Leon U's "Ideas" sculpture, on its pedestal on the housing estate I pass on my walk to work. I've blogged this sculpture several times, but this is a new perspective, showing it from beneath as a silhouette against the sky.

I think it captures the fleeting nature of ideas quite well. I can't tell you how often I have an idea for a blog post and then by the time I sit down to write, it's gone. Those figures seem to be leaping and stretching to grasp something ephemeral.

Yesterday turned out to be very low-key. Both the head librarian and the Middle School librarian were away, and many of the kids were gone too -- I think there are some school trips happening, as well as lots of people getting a jump on October break. We aren't officially off until next Wednesday, but Monday and Tuesday are parent-teacher conference days when the kids don't have to be in school, so I think some families may be using the week for extended traveling.


I found another cat sticker!


When I got home yesterday evening, I downloaded the garden cam. At two minutes, this week's video is pretty short. I'm sparing you almost all the cat, squirrel and pigeon footage and giving you mostly foxes.

-- At 0:35 there's a good view of one of them stretching. There are definitely two different foxes (at least), distinguishable because one of them has a white tip on its tail.
-- At 1:06, Pale Cat shows up with a blingy new collar!
-- At 1:48, I moved the camera onto the patio, and you can see that the foxes have no qualms about coming right up close to the house. Also you hear the owl (or whatever it was) that I mentioned in yesterday's post very clearly in this clip. My Merlin bird app still can't identify it.

Last night Dave and I watched "The Lost Bus" on Apple TV, the Matthew McConaughey movie about a school bus driver and teacher who work to rescue a busload of kids from the wildfires in Paradise, California, a couple of years ago. It's a very good movie, well-made and with all the nail-biting tension of the best disaster films. Well worth watching!

44 comments:

  1. I expect that Big Boss Woman and the Middle School librarian were partying at a wild shindig in The Surrey Hills where coincidentally there was a head librarians' Black Sabbath convention yesterday. Should result in some interesting innovations to advance library provision.

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    1. Black Sabbath the band?! Are my co-workers metalheads?

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  2. Sounds like a good movie, I'll keep an eye out for it.

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  3. I've just got my son a wildlife camera thingy for his birthday - looking forward to seeing what goes through his garden

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    1. It's always interesting to see what's happening out there at night!

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  4. This might be my favorite view yet of the sculpture. Thanks for the review of The Lost Bus. When I read about it I thought it could be a complete disaster as a movie or it could be interesting. Maybe we’ll give it a try. I’m enjoying the cat art.

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  5. October break? But the kids have only just gone back to school!

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    1. Well, not really. We started in late August, which is earlier than British schools, i believe. We're on a slightly earlier schedule.

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  6. your garden cam is such a great idea! It is like opening a gift every time, delightful surprises. I do love the sculpture- exactly like ideas and their fleeting nature. Try to grasp them and they turn into something else entirely.

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    1. Yeah, I love seeing what turns up in the garden, and tracking the lives of the local animals!

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  7. Your foxes are beautiful and look so healthy.
    Your half-term is early. Most schools have the last week in October, when the clocks go back. Perhaps you have two weeks, which many independent schools have in the autumn term.

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    1. Yes, we are slightly earlier, owing to our American schedule.

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  8. I really need to add Apple to the streaming. I had an argument with Comcast the other day about raising my internet and they ended up cutting it by 10 from the old price. Maybe I'll use the savings to do that!

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    1. Well, that's cool! Basically these companies just keep raising the prices until we protest.

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  9. I have an aversion to all things McConaughey and have family that lost everything in the Paradise fire so this one's not for me.

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    1. Is that because of his politics? Dave tells me he's quite conservative, which I didn't know.

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  10. I wonder if the foxes have figured out that Olga is no longer barking at them when they get close to the house which makes them bolder.
    You're right about the sculpture and the way it looks like something ephemeral is being reached for.

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    1. I bet it's scent more than anything. They can't smell her anymore.

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  11. I looked at some of the other views of the sculpture and could not see anything but a jumble of shapes. This view though makes sense. the foxes are looking healthy and bold.

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    1. It's hard to get a good shot of it because there's so much in the background. But it shows up against a plain sky.

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  12. Great photo of the sculpture.

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  13. It is confirmed; you have at least two adult foxes patrolling at night.
    A fox with a white tip on the tail makes a distinctive mark and it is great for id and frequency of visits to your garden.
    The sculptures against the perfect blue sky are remarkable. Nice photo Steve.

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    1. Yes, the tail helps a lot! I couldn't tell these animals apart if not for that.

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  14. It is amazing that there is so much wildlife in your garden.

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    1. It's a busy place! Of course, some of it (housecats) isn't really "wildlife."

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  15. Does London have coyotes, or are you mainly fox territory? In Tucson we rarely see foxes, it's coyote land. I wouldn't mind foxes, they're really attractive animals.

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    1. No, we don't have coyotes here. We don't even have badgers, at least not that I've ever seen.

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  16. I'm not always a fan of McConaughy (can't even spell his name) but the film sounds intriguing. I do love foxes. They're so much cuter than the possums and raccoons that we get.

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    1. He's a better actor than he usually gets credit for being, I think, but I know he rubs some people the wrong way.

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  17. I'll have to take a look for that movie. It always amazes me how Matthew can look gorgeous, or a bum. He's a good actor.

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  18. "the fleeting nature of ideas" What an apt interpretation...well said.

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    1. Well, the sculpture is actually called "Ideas," from what I can make out on its base. (The writing isn't very clear.) So I'm drawing from that to interpret!

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  19. It's odd your Merlin isn't coming up with any suggestions. Maybe it isn't a bird? Squirrels, frogs, and certain insects sometimes make deceptive sounds.

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    1. You can hear it clearly in the video clip in the subsequent post. I just don't think it sounds like anything but a bird, but I could be wrong.

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  20. I agree about that sculpture. It does look those two are reaching for something that is just out of reach. Thanks for the movie review. I've been wondering about it. Did you see that Bradley Whitford is joining the cast of The Diplomat? That should be interesting. I'm looking forward to that one starting again.

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    1. I did see that he was joining "The Diplomat." He and Allison Janney, reunited again in government service!

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  21. I have actually wanting to see that movie. I don't ever think I will get over how many visitors you get to your garden.

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  22. I've been on the fence about the movie. The previews make it seem very formulaic. Maybe I'll give it a chance if it streams on something I can view it.

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    1. I didn't find it formulaic. It's an Apple TV production so I'm not sure it's going to turn up anywhere except Apple.

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