“EVERGLADES PANTHER SIGHTING CLOSEUP”

If I thought I was mystified by the mist, that was nothing compared to watching a panther scoot its way into the trees not fifty yards away. What a majestic gait! It seemed to spring from its center and leap with each single effort, but then it also looked like it was scratching at the air. I can't explain it, but I was amazed when it stopped, and crouching low, looked back my way. I got out my binoculars and focused on the spot in the half-dark of the trees where I thought the cat was, and there, after my eyes adjusted a bit, was my friend who had taken all my attention from the gators and locked it onto aerodynamics and physics and how could something be so wild and beautiful? I thought of that long-dead cougar in the forests of Missouri in 1962 and its stalking of our farm animals, but really it was following the deer. Both the cougar I had heard way back when and this cat fed on deer. Had this panther been following me? I didn't care, because now I was going to follow it.