He really IS Mr. Fox--or at least the one in the Wes Anderson flick of a few years past: he has no tail! (Can't remember if Mr. Fox in Roald Dahl's original children's novel, The Fantastic Mr. Fox, loses his tail or not.) Mr. Fox has come out to meet us several times as we've returned to our rented place from the beach or from a Ceilidh (a kitchen party, literally--a place to hear traditional Canadian fiddle and guitar and piano music.) His friends all have tails. His friends are also afraid of us. He isn't. There's a lesson in there somewhere.
And isn't there a character in The Fantastic Mr. Fox named Bean? A farmer, I think.
Speaking of Bean...
At the beginning of the book, Zak and Bean are looking at a perfect weekend: Bean's prickly mom Julia is off at a business convention with her new boyfriend Tone. But then Bean gets whisked back into the past...and now there's something very different happening in her time traveling. There's also a renegade rock and roll FM radio station, a crazy third of July party, a sort-of ghost, and the American Revolution. A new character named Crow. And a host of zany hippie DJ's. You'll like it.
It's kind of perfect to have something to jump into at the end of a vacation. We'll be making our way home starting tomorrow, but we won't be back in residence in Rockland County until Thursday. Mad thanks to my super house-sitters, Sis Sue and her hubby, and Area 24 Radio music director Tom Jones, The Cat Whisperer. Ken and I are celebrating the release of In Her Own Time in St. Andrews, New Brunswick tomorrow, with two days at a good hotel--and then we'll be pushing through New Hampshire to home, with a brief stop-off in North Adams, Mass to see what's up at the art museums around there. Something I have learned from my hard-traveling husband: save the best treats for the trip home. (And always keep up with your laundry :) )
Here's my other offering to you: the new book. If you haven't read Time Runs Away With Her yet, here's the Amazon link. And when you're done with that, why not keep hanging out in 1970 for a while? We got through Vietnam; we'll get through this stuff, too. You, me, and Bean. Oh, that new book link again--right here.