
On many occasions, we found tracks in the snow at the edge of the trees and half-eaten prey on our walks around our ridgetop. I would make it a habit, especially in winter, to go out in the early morning darkness to see if there were four-legged visitors nearby before letting our dogs outside. One snowy morning, with my headlamp illuminating the darkness, I discovered fresh mountain lion tracks in the snow on our steep drive only to realize that less snow had fallen in the lion’s tracks in front of me than the track I made behind me just 3 minutes earlier. I followed them back toward the house and discovered the lion had been watching me not 50 feet away. I’m sure it wasn’t the first time, nor the last, we had been closely watched.
“Tree Top Stretch” began as a commissioned piece that gave me the opportunity to describe the powerful stealthy, yet reclusive, feline in a more relaxed manner. The big cat is beginning the evening’s hunt, limbering up on an old treetop, more than likely a daily ritual." -Daniel Glanz