Dog Days of Summer

Today felt a little off. Friday is normally my day off, but we switched the schedule around this week and I will be off tomorrow. All day it felt like a Saturday and everytime I got an e-mail it was a surprise because everyone that e-mails me does not work weekends. Fortunately, I was not in the office much today to receive those confusing e-mails. After almost 3 inches of rain yesterday, I think that Mother Nature finally got it out of her system. We actually had a dry and sunny day today!
I started the day by breaking out the noisemaker before anyone arrived. I used the leaf blower to clear the walkway to the spring and the parking lot. I included before and after photos of the parking lot. I don't think that it is obvious when the parking lot has been cleared, but it really makes a difference when you see it beforehand. The week's storms had left leaves, pine needles, and branches EVERYWHERE! One of my volunteers informed me just before I left today that there is a big tree down on the nature trail... it will have to wait until Monday.
The first visitors pulled in right after I turned off the leaf blower. They laughed when I thanked them for waiting for me to finish. It was another quiet day though. I saw no more than a dozen cars in and out throughout the day. There were only 3 divers, but many more divers called the park and were happy to find out that the spring was open again. I expect we may be busy this weekend.
After finishing the paperwork, and opening the visitor center, I started on mowing. I had to make a quick stop in town to fill up gas cans though. I was amazed to find that even with 3 inches of rain yesterday, my co-worker somehow, between raindrops, got all of the visitor-use areas mowed. I have suspicions that he may be a superhero. I had just the area by the flagpoles and the area around our dumpster to mow. I also used the mower to clear the pine needles off of the road near the park gate. I even mowed the area around my house during my lunch break because the mower and I were already dirty... it just worked out. After that project was finished and I cleaned off the mower (and myself) with the air compressor, I took a walk around the park.
It was evident that a pack of wild, unsupervised children had been in the visitor center. The door was wide open and the craft room was trashed. It really felt like a Saturday then! While I straightened up the cabin, I found that I had another visitor. It was the biggest dragonfly that I have ever seen!! He was easily the length of my hand. He was enjoying the view at the window, but I guided him toward the door with the broom and he seemed relieved to be outside.
The dragonfly wasn't the only stray that I had to deal with today. The volunteer at Adams Tract informed me that there were two stray dogs hanging around the camp. It is common for dogs to wander through that area. There are farms all around and most people do not keep their dogs contained. Usually the dogs leave on their own, but these two made it clear that they were intent on staying. I went to collect them and found that they were really sweet dogs. If I didn't already have a dog, I would be tempted to keep them. They didn't bark, they didn't jump up, they followed me wherever I went and they hopped right into my truck when I opened the door. They made themselves comfortable in my truck and it seemed like they knew that they would be home soon... wherever that may be. I secured them until someone from the animal shelter can pick them up tomorrow.
Its amazing how fast the day flies by when it isn't raining!