A melancholy walk...

For the first time, I went to Shoaff without Scrappy Tuesday afternoon.  A lot of it was memories...

Our slime mold returned last weekend...

Check it out!  No, not the mattresses- we're getting a crosswalk!

The river, not quite 3/4 of a mile in...

Here's the one-mile mark- just past the St Joe Ctr boardwalk

I interrupted a blue jay party.  Four of them flew out of a bush on my left into higher perches on my right.  Sorry, dudes!

The stairs into Shoaff park.  How many doggies we met there, how many stories started...

This speeding chip was the first of many...

This might have been the longest I traveled into the park before seeing a squirrel.  I was getting concerned...

...because the chips heavily outnumbered them.

Hey, Woody!

And yes, stumbled into another blue jay party...

Our favorite tiny waterfall is having an erosion problem...

...nothing pretty ever stays the same...

The boat landing.  Not the same without someone to wade in and get a drink...

...but I got my toes wet in his honor.

But you know, it's all right.  A beautiful day, friendly people, animals- see?  I'm smiling... kinda...

2 mile mark- just think what a nice picnic spot that'll be once these trees get big.

Here, let me try that smile again... oops! #photobombedbythesun

Next, I scared a heron at the wetland pond.  Sorry, dude!

I thought I saw a deer's ass back there... photographic evidence shows not only a rear, but a front!

Then, moments later, I scared THIS one from his siesta in a big bush at the edge of the pond...

Sorry, dude!

Ah, no need to worry for the squirrels...

They are all on the far side of the golf course digging up acorns!

This gentlerodent is mad because I scared him and a buddy up that tree- and it was HIS tree, and he just tossed his buddy back out of it.  Sorry, dude!

I think this was mile 3.  The heat was getting to me a bit.

If you click to expand this, you'll see Mr Blacksquirrel was munching on a twig of some sort... I was literally 5 feet away before he noticed me.

First step onto the trail back out, I see this guy... I thought for a second he was taking a crap on the trail!  He would have, if Scrappy were with me...

And what would a picture post be without a bunny!  Caught in mid lift off, Clark 'Bugs' Kent within instants donned his red cape and flew away.

Here's mile 4- mere steps from mile 1! Note: That is most definitely NOT me on a bike.

Little snapper having a sun

Me and Scrappy used to always 'cheat' by slipping down the hill to the lower course on the way home... just didn't want to do it without him.

By this time I was pretty pooped, so you didn't get pictures of "Duck IHOP all dried up", "The old footbridge facing the wrong way to help when I crossed the canal", "The narrow path through thistles crossing the canal", or "Squirrel looking at me like I'm nuts because I just came up out of the canal."  That crossing, though, left me about 2/10th of a mile short of getting mile #5.  But hey, I figure the temperature was worth a few hundred yards.