By C. F. Lawrenson
In the fall of 2007, I was walking along the Cowanesque River when I spotted a red fox up ahead. He didn't seem to mind me following him, but as I moved forward, so did he, always maintaining the same distance between us. I got to observe him for quite a while, until a dog from a nearby house began to bark, and he ran off into this swampy area. A few months later when portions of the swamp were frozen over, I took a walk down into these wetlands and found fox tracks in the snow. I decided to paint a winter scene depicting the fox trying to do the same thing I was doing; find a way around the yet unfrozen bogs. Of course, the fox being lighter, more athletic, and smarter about his environment than I am, would have no trouble getting around the thin ice.