HOT!

As I am typing this, the temperature is reported to be 93 degrees but the Real Feel Temp, with the effects of the humidity figured in, is 108! It was hot out today. Every once in a while there was a little bit of a breeze, but that just cooled me off enough to remind me how it was outside. After I opened the park and took care of paperwork, I don't know why, but I decided to try to work on a gutter that fell at the barn. I knew that it was a two person job, but it was bothering me and I wanted it taken care of before the problem got any worse. On the way to the barn, I saw another deer. She didn't mind me a bit and we were really pretty close to each other. She must be one of our regulars.
At the barn, I had to prop up about 20 feet of gutter in order to re-attach the end. Trying to reposition the gutter, hold it in place, and screw it in was just too much for one person. After a lot of up-the-ladder, down-the-ladder and shifting things around and dropping screws from the top of the ladder, I was too hot and my face was as red as a tomato and I gave up. I did make a good start on the project for tomorrow when my co-worker can work with me though.
I returned to the office to cool down for a while and do some office work. When I started feeling better, I headed out to walk the park. The park was really pretty busy, but most of the people were regulars, they didn't need me. As I checked in with everyone, I found out that a group of divers who had never been to the park before had been a little confused about payment and another group of regular divers had straightened them out and, well did my job for me. Its great to have such concerned park visitors. I checked certification cards and answered a few questions, but everyone was doing just fine. I made my way around the spring and chatted with some regular fishermen and headed back to talk to the group of divers just getting out of the water. I chatted with them for a while and also spent some time doing a little maintenance at the dock. Someone had written some letters on the railing that goes down into the water. Maybe it was their initials, or maybe they were writing Brad or, more appropriately, Brat... who knows but I hope that whoever it was learns that a better mark to leave on the park is to leave it in good condition. I was able to clean it up with a little scrubbing and some Simple Green, a cleaner that I like more and more every day. It is non-toxic, biodegradable, it smells good, works well, and its even my favorite color. Some divers today even told me that it works to de-fog a snorkel mask... we'll see about that. I scrubbed a few of the algae coated steps as well and also may have recruited a volunteer that is willing to help with in-the-water jobs and is knowledgeable about fish.
When I headed back up towards the office, I spotted a very pretty little toad on the walkway. It was hugging the corner for moisture and coolness, I'm sure. When I got to the office, I saw that our exterminator was there and had already set to work on his usual patrol of the buildings. I talked with him for a little while and began draining the rain barrels. Unfortunately, I found that some mosquitoes had managed to infiltrate the mosquito barrier on one of the barrels and there were young, hungry mosquitoes all over me when I lifted the lid to clean it! I ran to the office for another dose of bug spray and got back to work cleaning the lid. Draining the barrels takes some time though, so my evening relief was going to work on my project for me as well.