A Day On From My Days Off

I feel like I am on vacation or something.  I had the weekend off, worked today, and am now taking the next two days off as well.  My sister is coming to visit, so I took a little time off to spend with her.  After work today, we accomplished a little more in the quest to put our house together and had a huge achievement.  We finally arranged the living room furniture in a pleasing way.  We had been so close all along, but one chair just had to be shifted and we knew immediately that we had done it!  It may not sound like much, but it was a major victory in our book.  Home is just not home without a comfy living room.
So, back to work, I went to work today and got some things done there too.  We had our Monday morning meeting and reviewed the upcoming week.  It was a good week to take time off, I think we are in the calm before the storm that is summer.  It won't be long before the summer rush starts, but its nice to have some time to prepare.  After the morning meeting, I set out to check on a few areas in the park and at the distant, northern properties.  When I got to the spring area, no one was there yet.  It is a rare treat to see it so quiet.  It is always a beautiful site, but its stunning when its empty.


I wasn't alone though.  There were several squirrels rushing around to eat their breakfast acorns before they had to start running from visitors.  I also found this group of little bugs.  I have never seen them before, but they were very interesting.  I am guessing that the three little stripey guys are young versions of the adults around them.


I zipped through my morning duties and enjoyed my adventure out of the main park and out to the other properties.  I was back in time for lunch and headed back to the office afterwards.  I took care of some paperwork and made a few calls that I needed to make.  I stopped in at the ranger station to process a transaction through the register and to fill out some receipt forms.  On my way back to the office, I passed by my house.  I found three Turkeys out enjoying my front yard.  One male Turkey was doing his best to show off for the female Turkeys.  He fluffed out his feathers as far as they would go.


The hens were not all that interested and ended up walking right past him to peck at the dirt... poor guy.


I spent the rest of the afternoon in the office.  I got a little progress made on getting ready to start ranger evaluations and talked to my coworker about our next steps.  I waited for a phone call that never came, and I straightened up my office before heading out.
At home, we found an amazing caterpillar on the shed in the back yard.  It looks just like a stick!  It was holding tightly to the door frame with one end and the other end was suspended from a tiny wisp of silk.  I couldn't find a definite ID for the caterpillar, but I think it may be a silkworm caterpillar of some sort.  I will check back tomorrow to see if its still there.


Thought of the Day #59
I spoke to the ranger who took my place at Troy today.  It sounds like Troy Spring is finally clear again.  He described the water clarity to me and I could picture it so vividly.  I remember every inch of that park.  I wonder how long it will all stay with me.  I wonder how long it will take to feel the same way about Wekiwa.