Well, it was a very fine ride anyway.
After my enthusiasm yesterday for shifting into a “summer mode” of early rides, I stayed up last night, later than at any time in ages. After midnight. I rarely do that any more.
Nonetheless, I woke with a call of nature at 5:15, came back in to go back to bed, but thought; heck with it. I’m heading out. I quickly dressed and hustled out the door, riding up Tamm Ave. by 5:30 AM in the dim light of the pre-sunrise morning.
I had visions of big things in my head. I knew that the lions, tigers, elephants and gorillas in the mist would only be seen in the zoo. But, I fully expected to run into the coyote, had high hopes for the elusive fox which I’ve NEVER seen in Forest Park, and even dreams of a rare deer that might have wandered into the park after following railway tracks into town. A turkey or two was almost assured in my mind’s eye.
And all I got was a chicken!!! Yep, no fox, deer, not even the reliable coyote and turkey. However, recall I had spotted the chicken down by Jefferson Lake about two weeks ago and predicted it’s quick demise. Well, it’s still there. As I rode along between Jefferson Lake and the woods to the east of Triple A, there it was, watching me at the edge of the woods where it must have taken up residence.
I had just come from the maintenance building up by Forest Park Community College, and there the rooster inside the fence was singing out loudly and the hens were running around in the yard. Meanwhile, not a mile away was the (seemingly) lone hen, still making it on her own. Good luck, little chickie.
Minutes later I did see another small hawk fussing with the red-wing black birds, and the feeding frenzy of the fish is still going on.
I had stopped and talked with a golf course worker over near Skinker. He said he’s seen the fox, but not for a while, nor the coyotes. He says there are different color coyotes, and he sees them now and again, but they are more rarely seen this year than last.
Otherwise there were no exciting critter sightings. I was, however, well rewarded when I was coming up the hill from the Steinberg Rink area, heading toward the Jewel Box. Triple A was on my left (south), and the baseball fields close to the Muny were on my right (north). I was going west. This is a gradual hill, and the hill ends at the east end of the Jewel Box grounds. I was riding in sunshine but a very light lovely rain. There at the top of the hill stretching from what appeared to be about the old Arena grounds to about Washington U. was a gigantic and brilliant rainbow. It was so huge and so bright, I was just delighted. I stopped, got off the bike and stood in the light rain delighting in this sight.
When I eventually made my way back the second time to the Grand Basin area the rain had stopped and it was sunny and warm. I made my way home via Skinker Blvd. and Clayton Ave. stopping at a yard sale in the 6400 block of Clayton just at 7:15 AM
By 8 AM I was showered and up at Cairdeas visiting with my brother John and his friend Jim. It was very exciting to see that John has abandoned the crutch on his left side and is now walking with only two canes. Amazing. He will still need an operation on his left wrist this month, but heck, he hasn’t had an operation in five months!!!
After visiting with John and Jim a while, I moved out to the back garden to read. After finishing one decent length chapter I remembered I was totally out of groceries. I dropped my book bag at home, knowing I would need all the room in my baskets I could get, and took off on the bike to Schnucks, finally getting home for the day by 10:30 with a bike loaded down with groceries. I’m set to hibernate for the day.
I really loved being in the park so early. It was like a magical hunt. Around each corner I was watching, expecting a large critter to be there on the trail. There were so many rabbits at that hour, nearly as many as squirrels, but where were the bigger and elusive critters? I’ll have to wait for another day.
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