This morning when I had my "run" it was beautifully misty and rainish in the park. Now that it's too warm to wear my jogging pants, I wore The World's Dorkiest Shorts, which are basically a pair of poofy black cotton-knit pants cut off raggedly just above the knee. What made things even better was the fact that I also wore black socks. Wow!

Well, at least the park itself was still very beautiful. The river has been very full this season, and there was a big blue heron-y kind of thing standing stock-still on the riverbank, silently hunting for fish. An old fisherguy came up to me to discuss the "kingfisher," which it most definitely was not (although I have seen a kingfisher there).

He mentioned recently seeing a squirrel swimming across the river. I wish I could have seen that! However, I did get to see the local Northern Flicker, which I usually only see as a flash of white back-feathers when I unwittingly startle it out of the grass into the trees. This time I got to watch it hunting for bugs in the grass for a good long time, and then drinking from a puddle. It lifted its head up with each sip to allow the water to drain down its little throat.

My back is starting to hurt again after all this intensive writing—-that lowest vertebra is all crookedy and sends twinges down my legs. Must figure out a way to get to my chiropractor, whom I like a lot but is in a town about 20 minutes away. For a car-free person such as me, this might as well be on the moon. Alternatively, I could find a local chiro and have my records sent. But—-I hate switching doctors. I like the guy I was seeing! And since I already had the initial visit, an adjustment is only $40 or $50.

Come to think of it, I hate switching services in general, to which my ever-unchanging email address will attest.