When I was in the Czech Republic I used my email account a lot. One day I discovered Gmail skins. I chose one called 'Tea house' and was pleasantly surprised to find a cute fox in a little house drinking tea. The skin asked for my location, which I was confused about. Later I discovered that the fox does different things depending on the time of day. If your day consists of waking up in the morning, doing stuff in the day and going to bed at night, chances are your activities might resemble what the fox gets up to in his tea house.
As the Czech winter set in I spent more time online late at night, and got to see the fox getting up to all sorts of activities. I liked it when the fox was sleeping and ghosts would sit at his garden table and drink tea. Very early in the morning a giant tortoise comes into his garden. He never even knows because he is asleep! When the fox was asleep I would sometimes feel that it was time for me to go to bed, and I would turn off my computer and crawl into my bed/couch.
I especially liked it when my life and the fox's life would correspond, like when I was cleaning and then the fox was cleaning too. Or when I had company and he was up in his roof having tea with a monkey. I felt a strange affinity with this computer image. It gave my Gmail account a personal feel, but more than that, the fox's daily schedule gave his life a narrative I could trace.
When I had seen all the phases of the fox I started to get a little less excited when I saw him pruning a bonsai or doing calligraphy. That was until a few days ago when I discovered iGoogle. This is probably not new to you, but I had never heard of it before. I started building my homepage and noticed that the tea house skin was available for iGoogle as well! I applied it, set my city, and discovered something amazing. The fox's world has been expanded. His tea house actually backs on to a river and is surrounded by an orange grove in the shadow of a snow-capped mountain. So far I have seen the fox having a picnic on the far bank, picking oranges, eating dinner outside his tea house, rowing a boat, sitting on his pier with a lantern, sending paper boats bearing candles downstream, feeding ducks, playing the lute for his ducks, and, right now, looking at the moon with a telescope.
Tonight I have been waiting for the full moon to come out from behind the clouds. Last night I was meant to go to the Observatory but it didn't work out, so the excursion is postponed. It is unfortunate, but I am happy that at the very least, the fox gets to look at the stars for me.
The fox appears to have an excellent life. The simple domesticity is very compelling. The fox leads a life of solitude and contemplation, with time devoted to good meals and creative pursuits. He plays host to friends, but also takes responsibility for his home and garden and the animals that share his space. There are lots of animal friends in his world that go about their own business but seem to trust his peaceful nature. I realise it might be strange to be inspired by something that should have no real meaning. But I guess that's what life is like: you find meaning in strange and unexpected places.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment