"I'm a firm believer that you're the average of the five people you spend the most time with, so I surrounded myself with people who are goal-oriented, who are always doing more." – Archie Swensen

Average of The Five

My daughter Annie and her husband Hector were visiting us for the Christmas and New Year’s holiday. They had driven from their home in Columbus, Ohio. It’s a long drive and they were tired when they arrived.

“We saw a fox down the street,” They said excitedly. “It was just lying, relaxing, on the grass, on the front lawn in one of your neighbor’s yards.”

Now, I had never seen such a thing in my own neighborhood. So, I was skeptical to say the least. Okay, I was more than skeptical. I thought they were suffering from the results of a long trip.

“They’re just tired,” I thought to myself. “It’s more likely a dog they mistook for a fox. After all, our own Harry Pupper, the cute little devil, minus the tie, could be easily mistaken for a fox under the right circumstances.”

So, I brushed off their claim as “highly unlikely.”

Now, since the beginning of dead-on-winter, I’ve been proven to be foolish for such a ridiculous assumption. Because, the same Annie and Hector announced fox has indeed become a recognized citizen of our neighborhood. I see him participating in neighborhood life often.

I saw him lounging on a neighbor’s front grass just the other day. He was soaking in the sun, looking very comfortable indeed. A couple of days later I saw him watching a group of teenagers play basketball together. The fox enjoyed the game, while relaxing on the grass, courtside. I even saw him walking down the middle of the road, aside a neighbor’s slowly-paced car, communing together in a friendly, neighborly way.

That fox is our neighbor! He seems to have settled in and has been accepted as a resident of spectacle and beauty. And, like all neighbors, I’m sure he has his detractors. Never-the-less, he is comfortable in the neighborhood and seems to be living, well, a rather un-foxlike life.

I’ve been noodling this seemingly un-foxlike-neighbor for a while now and made, perhaps, an interesting observation, based on a comment from recent summiteer of Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, East Africa, after an eight-day climbing journey, Archie Swensen.

"I'm a firm believer that you're the average of the five people you spend the most time with, so I surrounded myself with people who are goal-oriented, who are always doing more."

Has neighborhood fox become the average of the five neighbors he spends his time with? A relaxed yard lounger. A lover of friendly basketball play. A chatter with neighbors on the street. I can’t wait to discover his other two favored pursuits.

Makes me wonder who I’m becoming as a result of my own surrounding five.

Sorry for doubting you Annie and Hector!