Mr. McDougle’s Garden

If it is possible to love plants, then Mr. McDougle really loved his garden. He spend hours each day pulling little weeds away from his cabbages and beans. His tomatoes and pumpkins always won prizes at the Fair for their beauty and taste.

So, you might imagine the despair that Mr. McDougle felt when he found bites taken out of his cabbages one morning. Oh no, rabbits have been in my garden!…and they have been munching on my cabbages. Sure enough, there was a big bunny still at the end of a row!

Shoo, shoo yelled Mr. McDougle…get out of my cabbages. The bunny jumped up and ran as fast as she could! Oh, if only I had my sling-shot with me thought Mr. McDougle, I’d give that bunny a sting that would keep her running! He decided that he would wait for the bunny early in the morning because he knew she would be back!

So, early the next day…Mr McDougle got up before the sun came up. He was very quiet as he walked out to his garden and sat down at the edge of the cabbage row. He sat and waited.

…and waited…and waited…and waited. He got very tired waiting so long.

He thought about all of his lovely plants as he waited. He remembered the days when he was just a young boy, helping his mother in her garden. He recalled how wonderful the food was she made from their freshly picked vegetables. Just as he was in the middle of a lovely day-dream about fresh green beans…he heard a sound. Slowly he turned his head…and down at the other end of the cabbage row sat that pesky rabbit! But, she was not alone…she had friends!

When Mr. McDougle looked closely, he saw that these were not friends…but babies. That pesky rabbit was a Mama! The little bunnies were so cute, so fluffy and they hopped around their mother with such joy. Mr. McDougle shifted his feet, and the mother stood still as stone. The babies stopped moving and hunkered down to the ground. Mr. McDougle could hardly breathe he was so still. The mother bunny twitched her nose, and back down the cabbage row she hopped. She stopped long enough at the end of the row to munch on a cabbage leaf…and then she was gone. The baby bunnies were no where in sight either!

Mr. McDougle sat and thought a few more minutes before getting up from his hiding place. As he walked back to the house, he said to himself “next year, I need to plant more cabbages!”.

Freda Fox Loves Cupcakes!

Now, I know…foxes are not supposed to love cupcakes. But, in fact, I do! 

 Hi, my name is Freda and I just have to tell you about my new found love. CUPCAKES are wonderful! I had no idea!

Just this past week I was walking past a neighborhood garbage can…hideous, smelly things! Yuck! I always hurry past just as quickly as I possibly can any time I encounter one of these stinky things.

But, I was so surprised to find a totally different odor accosting my nose as I scooted past this particular morning. It was a sweet smell, even sweeter than honeysuckle blossoms on a dewy early morning…lovely as they are. I just had to stop and investigate.

So, very gingerly, I crept closer and saw a box of something fluffy on top of the can. The box was slightly ajar, and I could just barely see inside of it. Whatever this was, the smell was most definitely coming from it and not the garbage can! I jumped upon a nearby bench and onto the top of the garbage can.

I know, I know, this does not sound like something a well-bred southern fox like me should be doing. But, I simply just could not stop myself! I believe I was slightly intoxicated by the smell!

The scent from the top of that can was tremendous…and I soon forgot that I was sitting on top of a garbage can!…in broad daylight! I pushed open the box until the lid fell back onto the can. What I saw was three little mountains of some kind…each had pink swirly stuff on the top. My nose told me that this was most definitely the source of all that wonderful sweet smell. I ventured closer…

Did I dare touch one? My mind was just racing with thoughts. What if they were sticky and cold? My paws would be a mess, and I had just spent the entire morning cleaning dew from them. So, instead, I decided to put my nose just a smidgen closer and inhale more of that wonderful scent.

As my nose got close, well, I really just don’t know how to properly relay what happened next. I mean, I just must have blacked out or something…a seizure of some type perhaps…The next thing I remember was waking up…sprawled across the garbage can with this bright pink cloud spread all over my paws and stomach! Appalling behavior!

As I began to come around to my normal self again, I was so embarrassed at my present state that I jumped from the garbage can and ran behind a mulberry bush! Slowly my heart began to beat at a more regular pace and my brain seemed to be clear of the abnormality it has recently suffered. Of course, I still had this pink cloud to deal with on my fur.

What was I to do?, there was no way I could make it all the way back to home with this all over me, and it had to go! So, gingerly, I put a paw up to my mouth and barely putting my tongue out, licked just slightly to see if it would come off.

Well, what a shocker! The pink cloud tasted wonderful…and, immediately, I saw visions! Visions of me gobbling down this pink cloud just as fast as I could. Oh my, my!…these are not visions! This is memory! This is what happened on top of the garbage can!

 What! I could not believe it! I would never act with such abandon…never…never…never! (And dear reader, it is with absolute horror that I relate this behavior…even hours later!)

AND, much to my chagrin,... there was a witness to my display that day! Mr. Owl had been watching the entire episode from his oak tree branch! He swooped down to the mulberry bush to offer his assistance (and I’m sure to let me know that he HAD seen everything). I was just mortified!

But, being the proper southern lady that I am…I did not act as though anything out of the ordinary had just taken place.

“Good morning Mr. Owl” I proclaimed…with pink cloud on my belly…”How are you feeling this fine morning?”.

“Oh, I’m doing quite well Ms. Fox, quite well indeed”. “Are you enjoying your cupcake?” he exclaimed. “They are very messy are they not?”.

“Cupcake?” “So, these pink clouds are cupcakes?” “What is a cupcake?” I stammered.

“Well, cupcakes are tiny little cakes with sweet sugar icing. They come in many colors, and these are a bright pink. Most every morning the baker has some extra of the tiny cakes and he leaves them here on top of his garbage can. Sometimes the squirrel family comes by and gets one, or I have even seen Ms. Opossum and Ms. Raccoon take them now and again. However, they have both told me that their children are most unruly after eating them” shared Mr. Owl.

By this time, I had successfully licked all of the pink cloud…oh, I mean, pink icing…from my fur. It left my fur sticky and I smelled very much like a pink cup cake myself. Surprisingly, I found myself suddenly in quite a content state ...just warm all over...and in need of a long nap. So, using my best southern drawl I bid Mr. Owl a hasty goodbye. “I must be going home now Mr. Owl, but I’ll come back to visit with you again soon. Ya’ll take care now.”

 I am feeling so much more like myself now. I have had a proper bath and a nice long rest. After supper, I shall visit some of my friends…and try to get to bed early.

Tomorrow, before the sun has risen, I shall be hiding in the mulberry bush waiting for Mr. Baker to deliver those cup cakes again. I must get there before Ms. Opossum, Ms. Raccoon and Ms. Squirrel!

Note: Most every evening I tell my granddaughter a bedtime story. Long ago, I already finished telling all of the most memorable of the traditional fables and stories. So, since she was about three years old (she is seven now) I have just been making up stories. She picks an animal or two…and I make up a story. Then, I pick an animal…and she makes up a story. (Her story is very often similar to the one I just told, but with different animals)…although, sometimes she really surprises me with a totally new story. It is pure joy…and I encourage you to try this out with the little ones in your family. When I dreamed up Freda Fox and her love of cupcakes Aidan was giggling so loud at “seeing her” licking the cupcake and hiding under the bush! So, I thought ya’ll might enjoy the story too.