Melancholy Monday

Today was a normal Monday. I did all of the Monday type things. I made my walk through the park before I sat down to do paperwork though, the weather report told me that it would be a wet day. The river area is really beautiful when a storm is rolling in. Its the only place in the park where you can see a lot of sky all around you. I was also happy to see that there is finally clear water pushing out into the river. Its only a little area, but it will grow in the coming days. I spotted a Bowfin cruising through the clear spot. They are cool looking fish, with the shape of a catfish and a long dorsal fin that covers most of their back. They are one of a few species of local fish that were around when dinosaurs were alive. They no doubt adapted easily to water level changes throughout history because of adaptations to its swim bladder that let it gulp air out of water. The swim bladder is able to act like a lung and fishermen find that they will stay alive for a LONG time out of water. They will readily take a fisherman's baited hook and they put up a strong fight. Though edible, they are usually considered a junk fish.
My Monday errands took up most of the afternoon, but when I returned, I had a few divers and a few families in the park. There were lots of kids "rescuing" little toads from the walkway. I also caught a picture of another fence lizard who was looking down at the kids from the high wall above the walkway, obviously glad to not be a toad today!
I cut my day short today. I finished everything that I needed to inside and the on-again-off-again rain kept me from getting into any projects outside. Also, Friday was a state holiday, but it was also my day off. Because I am on salary, I don't get paid for holidays but I get 8 hours of "comp time." That means that I get another day off. Its hard for me to just leave the park unmanned, so to get my 8 hours I am shaving a couple hours off each day this week. I left as soon as my relief came in instead of having some overlap time like we usually do.
I hope the rest of the week is not as rainy as predicted. If it is, you are in for a lot of dark cloud pictures this week.