SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2017
On my usual morning walk I have noticed a red fox in the area, sometimes trotting off the trail or meadow adjacent to the trail ahead of me into a wooded area adjacent to the trail. This morning as I walked along thinking about something I glanced up to see the fox trotting into the trees about 100 feet in front of me. When I reached the place about where it had disappeared the thought occurred to me, I bet it’s watching me right now from somewhere in that tangle of standing and fallen trees and brush. There is currently no snow cover but I stopped and studied the background anyway. I saw an orange patch maybe several hundred feet away in the forest, but as I shifted to gain a closer look I could see that it was just an orange autumn leaf suspended in the brush. I scanned the drab, brown winter forest landscape again and just as my eyes drifted back to my trail the fox suddenly materialized out of the background. It was no more than 30 feet from me, crouched down on brown grass staring straight at me and perfectly motionless. I started, and then exclaimed, Ha! I see you! I waved and said, Hi, then resumed my walk, looking back once or twice to see that it was still watching me intently. I do hope we can be friends.