A FOX AND COMET

A few summers ago I was in the Bisti photographing lightning. In the last light I pitched my tent to the raucous noise of toads - yes toads in the Bisti - more than a quarter mile away and loud. I ate some dinner and crawled into the tent for some rest. I woke up at eleven pm. from a light sleep, grabbed my binoculars and started gazing at the night sky. In just a few minutes I spotted a few sattelites and a dim comet.

I was still scanning the skies standing quietly outside my tent when I felt something move over my feet. Somehow without panicking or yelling I turned my eyes and head away from the glasses to see what it was. In the dim starlight I could only see a white spot floating on the end of a tail. "A skunk?" I wondered. I could barely make out some small animal walking away from me only five feet away now. I was standing so still it didn't know where I was, but when I crouched down to grab my flashlight out of the tent it finally heard me, and even in the dark I saw it jump. When I put the light on it I saw a beautful red fox staring back at me. After a few seconds I turned off the light and watched the form of the animal apperantly sniffing around before it wandered off. I watched the stars for a few more minutes before going back to bed laughing to my self.