TWO: INDIAN SUMMER INTERSECTIONS

Lately I have been worried about something. I found a place, a secret opening at the outskirts of a forest. Not one soul have I come across yet. I take the dogs there sometimes. About a half hour in, past old growth Oaks and quiet soft Pines and others, there is an intersection in the wood. You can go one of three ways. Four, if you count the option of doubling back to where you came from. I went to the right the first time, and found this place- absolutely wonderful. There are a few acres of grass where a person can think and roam, where canines can run, sniff, roll, sit, explore. But the second time is what got me worried. The second time I took the path straight ahead. My logic was that it would loop up with the wide open fields I had discovered the first time. So I went down a sheltered summit that a broken tree blocked. Then I went around some dense bushes. Still it seemed like a path. But it didn’t loop up. I definitely heard then an animal, much larger than a squirrel, startle and then run off. I went back and cut my losses. Once in the fields, I came across a sandy area with large paw prints and a dead bird. Now, I wonder, - is there a mountain lion or something else there? I am concerned.