I'M WORKING ON IT

Part 1
I made it to the trail at 6:10 this morning and hit the pavement at 6:15. The sun had not yet broken over the horizon. It was already 80 degrees and about 85% humidity.

The over-riding sense was that insects and birds were taking over. I imagine the birds were out for a banquet early in the day. There were squadrons of dragon flies over the meadows. They looked like military helicopters executing maneuvers. There were hundreds of them. They weren't the kind I generally see with dark iridescent bodies. These were black with black and gray stripped wings.

I saw more birds this morning than I ever have before. I saw 6 female cardinals today. They were flying back and forth across the path. I think they were probably getting breakfast for their chicks. They certainly didn't seem bothered by me. I also saw several tiny, brown birds. I don't know what they are, but they fly very fast and their call is more like a ticking sound than a song.

As always, there were rabbits out in force. I passed at least 7 during the walk. They were as placid as ever, only running away when a bird flew near them.

I had a couple of unusual sightings today - an armadillo out in the sun and a small snake warming itself on the edge of the path.

In the first 45 minutes of my walk I only saw two people I had seen on my previous outings. I guess they had the same idea of getting out before it is too hot. After 7:00, I began to see more of the regulars.

I walked the full 7 miles today and did it in under two hours. I felt good about that. The best part was that I was able to go without my sun glasses on the entire outward bound half of the walk. The sun was fully up by the time I made the turn to head back to the car. It was beginning to get uncomfortably hot. There was a breeze, but it was too damp to be cooling. About half way back I managed to catch some strong wind to cool off at least a bit. The last 10 minutes of the walk was brutal. I was overheated and my left knee was painful (bad joint and arthritis), but I made it and was pleased to get back to the car and the air conditioning.

Part 2
I didn't get out as early as yesterday, but I was walking at 6:25 - not too bad. I only planned to walk 5 miles this morning. I'm trying not to hurt myself any more than necessary - not that it should be necessary.

Much like yesterday, the temperature was around 80 degrees. Luckily, we had a short strong shower yesterday afternoon. It seemed to have cleared out some of the humidity, so it wasn't so bad today.

The first wildlife I saw today was a hawk. It was sitting in one of the trees near the start of the trail. It flew across the trail directly in front of me. I didn't see it capture prey, but it was clear that was the plan. That may be why I didn't see any other birds flying around and the only rabbits I saw were very near the underbrush for a quick get-away. Later in the morning I saw an egret landing on the far side of the meadow, near the high trail. This is the first time I've seen one in the park.

It is always interesting to me that so many people from so many different places walk in this park. I heard people talking Japanese, an African language, and some central European language. The folks that walk here seem have different backgrounds, education levels, ages, sizes and shapes. There are some who have been running for some time - you can see it in their lack of body fat and musculature. There are others, like me, who are beginners - their pace and difficulty breathing sets them apart. There are families who get out there together and people with their dogs; people in groups and those who go alone. I'm sure we're all out there for different reasons as well. The great thing is that everyone can be there for whatever reason and we still manage to pass each other without incident every weekend. It makes you think if we can do it here, why can't we do it everywhere.

Time to pull weeds in my garden. Bye.