It has been a busy few weeks, and in some ways, not the best in my personal history. It had begun with a very sick car just days before we were to go north. The last-minute repair really did go right to the last minute… and then I drowned my camera on the first day of the workshop.
Then a lousy dental infection got out of hand. It started a few days after getting home from the Scottish trip, just before I was turning around to go back up north again with my son. By the time we got home, it wasn’t good. I looked like a hamster, much to the amusement of the aforementioned son, and it cost me one molar with another still under threat. And I’ll soon be off north again on my travels…
On the other hand, it has not been all bad. In fact, quite the opposite.
The car did behave, in spite of having to drag her ageing carcass and cargo up and down mountains. I managed to replace my camera with a shinier, newer one, that has not been bashed, battered and had its lens damaged. And I have frequently been reminded of Howard Carter’s words on opening Tutankhamen’s tomb, for we, too, have seen ‘wonderful things’ and the tale of our adventures is far from over.
Plus, we saw the Foxes dance.
My son has heard all about Mister Fox over the past few years. He has seen the photographs and the three books we have produced for them so far, but he had never seen them dance in person. Having expressed a desire to do so, we arranged a sofa, loaded him and the wheelchair into the car and headed north for the Hunter’s Moon celebration.
I spent the evening selling and signing books for the Foxes until the dance began… then joined Nick to enjoy the fabulous spectacle, with the camera lined up to click every second or two. A few hundred photos later, when the fire and magic had once again disappeared into the night, we gathered to look through the pictures, reliving again the flames and the dance. I’d got some good ones.
Home again, I loaded them up onto the computer, checked them all through and cleared the memory on the camera. By this time, I was quite ill and desperate to see a dentist. I managed that next morning and they removed a tooth in the hope it would clear the infection. It didn’t. Return visits, more treatment and pills were required. By midweek, my brain had ceased to function as I lurched between doses of painkillers, hot water bottles and ice packs. Both I and my brain were pretty much useless by the time I got home from work, which is why it has been quiet around here.
…and why I managed to lose all the new Fox photos… the entire Hunter’s Moon folder… I must have deleted them by accident along with my daily clearing of the desktop. I’d already deleted them from the camera and I empty the ‘recycle bin’ every night. The recovery programmes I tried didn’t manage to find them… and so I must offer my apologies to Charles James Fox and the dancers of Mister Fox for the lack of new photos.
But, we did, as always when the Foxes dance, have an incredible night. My son loved the dance, the music and the atmosphere…it is impossible not to do so. Photos cannot capture the sound of pipe and drum, nor do videos capture the smell of the smoke in the night or the excitement of the hundreds of children who watch in wonder… for we all all children as we watch, I think, delighting in the magic and mystery as the Foxes dance in the darkness.
Sue Vincent's Daily Echo 
You are lucky you took care of that infection. Oral infections have a nasty habit of heading right into your heart. I hope you finally feel much better!
I have deleted a lot of pictures. Here’s how I do it: I cut and paste the pictures from the chip. Then I forget that all the downloaded pictures are still highlighted and go to delete one picture and they all disappear. They are not on the chip — I deleted them when I moved them — and they are totally, 100% gone.
I do not cut and paste the pictures anymore. I leave them ON the chip until I’ve processed the pictures. I did the paste and delete twice before I got the message!
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I know…they can be nastier and more damaging than we might think these days… I’ll be glad when it has cleared up finally.
This is the only time I have deleted a whole folder of images… and I was gutted as we normally have two cameras on the go…and this time, there was only mine. 😦
I always check I have them safely in a folder before I delete from the camera… I’m blaming the absence of a brain this week…
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So sorry about the tooth. That’s my own personal nightmare.
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A nightmare still ongoing, Richard as I try to hang on to that second molar…
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I hope you can.
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So do I!
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I am so sorry for your pain – as well as the loss of the photos. Your health is the most important thing, however.
I hope the infection is gone – AND that you are taking probiotics like a mad thing. Serotonin precursers in the gut are also killed by antibiotics. I know from my own dental horror story the depression that can follow – which no antidepressant can touch without gut assistance. Trust me on this one – and don’t rely on yogurt (not NEARLY enough good beasties to repopulate).
Great videos for those of us who have never seen the Foxes dance, however. They’re new to us.
xx,
mgh
(Madelyn Griffith-Haynie – ADDandSoMuchMORE dot com)
ADD/EFD Coach Training Field founder; ADD Coaching co-founder
“It takes a village to transform a world!
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Thanks, Madelyn, me and my gut have an uneasy relationship at the best of times, so it gets plenty of probiotics as a rule 🙂
The Foxes are fantastic… I just wish the videos could capture the whole experience or those who cannot get to see them live 🙂
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I feel the same way about live theatre – there are so many things that simply don’t translate to film or video.
xx,
mgh
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Exactly so… the atmosphere cannot be replaced. xx
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or replicated.
xx, mgh
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I hope you’re feeling better! Dental woes are just nasty.
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They are, Lynette and I am getting much better, thnk you.
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That Fox Dance is amazing and the first I have heard of it. Thanks for sharing. Sorry to hear about your dental problems, never nice.
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The Foxes are amazing, Darlene…we see them whenever we are able and never tire of it. 🙂
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Reblogged this on anita dawes and jaye marie.
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Thank you! x
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Sorry to hear you have had tooth trouble too, Sue… Mine is still on going and I’m sick to my back teeth about it all… Madelyn’s advice sounds sensible, though!
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Her advice always is 🙂 I hope your problems sort themselves out soon, Jaye x
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Me too, there is only so much mush I can eat! X
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Baked potatoes have become a staple recently 😉
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Good alternative to porridge!
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I like porrige, but there are limits to how often…
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precisely!
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i am so glad that it all worked out, even one of those things can be upsetting. i’m not surprised that you found the best in all of it.
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Things are seldom all bad… thankfully 🙂
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Sorry you’ve been having such a nasty time with the mouth infection and I hope it is clearing up and you are beginning to feel a bit better. I see Madelaine has given you some good advice on probiotics. I can imagine how sick you must have felt when you realised you’d deleted all the Mr Fox photos. Thanks for the videos – loved them. Take care of yourself.
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Thanks Mary, losing the pictures was a real blow…and only one of the areas where a working brain would have been useful 😉
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Tooth pain is horrific. Sorry for the losses. And I hope you are feeling MUCH better.
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Thanks Colleen… getting there finally 🙂
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The teeth. No necessary and yet so damn painful when they decide to cause problems. I am glad you are feeling better!
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Getting there, though I’ll be glad when the tooth fairy gets the invisible picks out of my jaw 😉
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After having 7 teeth pulled, with all the lowers having dry socket, I empathize with your pain. When you’re in pain, it’s hard to think — and events like deleting pictures are much too easy.
Hope you’re feeling better soon.
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Thanks, Joelle…one was bad enough. Seven must have been hellish!
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Those lost photos are always in the back of my mind…the worst was a computer dying without anything backed up, including in-process art. Now I also put everything on a portable drive (although not often enough, probably)
I hope they’ve managed to tame the infection. Rest is good in any case.
And thanks for sharing the foxes! (K)
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It was panic stations when mine died mid backup…I was so grateful when my tech guy managed to recover everything!
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I was not so lucky…but I did learn a lesson from it.
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So did I… days of panic are a good teacher…
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Yikes! My last couple of weeks sound like a walk in the park compared to yours. I’ll stop whining immediately. Hope your infection is all cleared up.
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Not yet, Fransi… but getting there, thanks 🙂
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Hope it doesn’t take much longer Sue.
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So do I, Fransi. I like hamsters, but I’ve no ambition to keep looking like one 🙂
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Don’t blame you.
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🙂
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I’m so sorry about your dental problems. I’ve also recently lost a molar due to a root canal that abscessed. I’ve since changed dentists needless to say. I’ve spent so much on my teeth over the years I find myself remembering how happy my mother was when she got dentures. I think I’m outliving my teeth. —- Suzanne
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I am begining to feel there might be benefits to dentures, you know… but there are a good few teeth to go before I become a dentist-free zone.
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Hope you’re feeling better, Sue 🙂
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Getting there, Esther, thank you!
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Seeing a bit of the Foxes Dance was a wonderful start to a fall morning here in New England. I especially liked the “sneaky foxes” working the crowd around the perimeter.
How frustrating to have lost those pictures. But you’re right: the memories of the experience are the best pictures and harder to accidentally erase.
Now if only you could erase that tooth infection. Hope you’re well on the road to recovery!
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The Fox dance loses so much when filmed or photographed… it is a magical thing to watch and the memories will hopefully remain evergreen 🙂
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I know it will. And your word picture of the smell of smoke and the electricity of anticipation was perfect. It’s like talking about a trip to the Grand Canyon or the Northern Lights with only postcards as a reference.
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Yes… the richness of the sensory experience is not the same when it lacks that extra dimension…
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Commiserations, my dear friend ♥ The tooth thing is no muy bueno. But at least you were able to have fun with your son!
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The trip north was wonderful…in spite of the teeth, Connie 🙂
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Oh dear and oh dear but oh, how wonderful! My root canal and continuing saga of fillings seem mild in comparison to your problems. Keep cosy.
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I have a warm dog beneath my feet…all is well with the world tonight 🙂
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Your adventures…far from over, even the dental ones,so sorry. You may have lost the photos, but the fox videos…very cool.
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The adventures continue. So does the infection, for now at least. But Mister Fox is always amazing 🙂
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I hope you are better by now Sue
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Getting there, thanks, Lucinda.
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As you say ups and downs, I do hope you are feeling better. Toothache us so painful I really hope you are improving.
Sorry about the Photos but shit happens and you have the video from last year. It is great that Nick got to go with you.
The car sounds almost as determined as you are. Please Sue get well. Sending you healing hugs.💜💜
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Thanks, Willow. The videos are not mine…found on youtube where there are many others of Mister Fox…
Yes, it was lovely to have Nick with us for the dance :)<3
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I imagine it was 😀💜💜
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🙂
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Oh Sue, I hope your dentist woes are done! And equally painful is losing those Fox photos. Expensive lesson. Delete is sometimes a little too easy. 🙂 Hope you’re feeling better now 🙂 ❤
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Thanks, Debby, it seems to be getting better at last 🙂 I hope so, anyway.
It is a shame about the photos, though I still have many from last year that I am yet to use, so all is not entirely lost 🙂 xx
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Well thank goodness for the older photos. You won’t be so trigger happy on that delete button now will you? LOL Glad you’re feeling better. It’s me now with a terrible flu 😦 ❤
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Ouch! Dental woes and lost pictures. 😦 … did the hurricane at least pass you by?
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Reblogged this on Stuart France.
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I’m sorry you’ve had a rough time of it lately, but glad you seem to be on the mend now.
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Thanks, Victoria. I hope I am at last!
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Hello Sue, I am way behind with my reading and I hope you are feeling better now. Sending you healing hugs. Xx
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I’m late getting to this, but it looks like so much fun and excitement! I’m sorry to hear about the dental infection, but you were right to get it looked at immediately. The sinuses above the teeth are right below the brain, and infections can eat through. Very dangerous. Hope you are feeling MUCH better and haven’t lost any more teeth. Thanks for sharing your adventure!
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