October is history. Halloween is over. We had one trick-or-treater. Today I’m putting away our Halloween decorations and bringing out autumn and Thanksgiving.
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| Maple tree -- not such a lovely year |
From March into October, I switched my projects from doll clothes to making baby blankets, towels, and burp cloths for “Little Guy.” He’s using those things now, and I don’t think he will need more. And now that I know his name is “Silas Fox” and that he likes a woodland animal theme, I’m totally on it!
Seems like in bygone years, the fox was not a reputable fellow. We spoke of the “sly fox,” and farmers were wary of “the fox in the henhouse.” The fox ate the gingerbread boy, and Foxy Loxy’s participation in the troop of animals in “Chicken Little” seemed questionable. Beatrix Potter presented “Mr. Tod” as quite a villain.
And I think of the famous sentence practiced by the beginning typist, “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog,” which has more to do with the typewriter keyboard than the character of the fox.
Today, we endow the fox with better qualities: cleverness, independence, playfulness, mischievousness, beauty, protection, good luck, and even intelligence, to name a few compiled by someone else. The fox is timid and keeps to himself, perhaps another way of saying he minds his own business.
The fox is popular right now, and DIY projects for kids and adults are all over the internet – ornaments, hats and sweaters, scarves, boot cuffs, mittens, hooded towels, bootees, slippers, stuffed animals – you name it. I’ll incorporate the fox into Silas’ Christmas stocking. He must have a stocking so that he’s prepared for Santa’s visit. Of course, he doesn’t really need Santa because he has Grandma (me), and I’m not kidding about that. (He even has two Grandmas.) Nevertheless, he must hang a stocking for Santa to fill.
Speaking
of Christmas, Silas must also have a Christmas tree ornament to celebrate the
year of his birth, and because Nick and Hallie have collected lovely Christmas ornaments. I wanted to find something special -- just the right thing for their tree. First, I ordered a fox ornament from the National Wildlife Federation's catalog, but then I found a personalized ornament through Etsy seller "sarahsstickershop." Perfect! What fun! Grandma Claus at work.
Forty years ago, I asked my 3-year-old what he wanted to be for Halloween, and without hesitation, he said, “A fox.” I was surprised that he knew about foxes. I made him a reddish-brown jumpsuit and tied a white bib around his neck. Mike found a fox tail that we pinned onto the costume. It was a moment in time, a great memory. KW
2 comments:
Love the story of the fox outfit from years gone by. A special memory for certain, one to hold close. And kudos to you for making it happen because as I think back, you must have had two by then and were expecting your third!
Yes, that's the very Halloween in question -- 1981. I don't know how I did it either because I had to sort of make it up as I went along, and that's just not my thing.
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