Out of Context

Got myself a Discover Pass this morning (for out of staters, that allows access to Washington State Parks, in my case I paid for a year – a mere three uses pays for itself) and did a spontaneous walk on a trail at Twanoh State Park. Actually, it was more like a climb – a smidge over 300 feet, which seems nothing but required lots of stops for someone unpracticed and out of shape. Well worth it.

Adventures of Reddy Fox
Thornton W. (Thornton Waldo) Burgess

Then she walked in a big circle with her nose to the ground, sniffing and sniffing. What was she doing that for? Why, to see if she could find the tracks of anyone who might have stolen her chicken.

“Aha!” exclaimed old Granny Fox, starting to run along the top of the hill, her nose to the ground. “Aha! I’ll catch him this time!”

In a few minutes she began to run more slowly, and every two or three steps she would look ahead. Suddenly her eyes snapped, and she began to creep almost flat on her stomach, just as she had crept for Peter Rabbit. But it wasn’t Peter Rabbit this time. It was–who do you think? Jimmy Skunk! Yes, Sir, it was Jimmy Skunk. He was slowly ambling along, for Jimmy Skunk never hurries. Every big stick or stone that he could move, he would pull over or look under, for Jimmy Skunk was hunting for beetles.

Old Granny Fox watched him. “He must have a tremendous appetite to be hunting for beetles after eating my chicken!” muttered she. Then she jumped out in front of Jimmy Skunk, her eyes snapping, her teeth showing, and the hair on her back standing on end so as to make her look very fierce. But all the time old Granny Fox took the greatest care not to get too near to Jimmy Skunk.