When I stepped outdoors to get the paper at dawn, the wind and cold convinced me that I would not, after all, join the 8 a.m. bird walk at the nature preserve down the street. I stayed indoors until noon, taking care of some paperwork I needed to handle. I got a lot done.
By noon it was warm and the sun was out, albeit it was a weak Winter sun. I went to the Heard Natural Science Center and hiked the trails. I saw chickadees, a tufted titmouse, a flock of red-winged blackbirds and other fellow travelers, and a yellow-rumped warbler. A client called me while I was on the trail, and it was surreal in a good way to drift from grassland to legal matter as I stood in an open field.
I went to a Vietnamese restaurant for pho ga' and pork spring rolls. Then I went to Lucas to walk the part of Trinity Trail that is just north of Brockdale Park.
.As I hiked back to my car, a man and his unleashed black German shepherd/police dog came up the trail.The dog was off leash, and came up to me and began barking at me. His barks were not hostile but playful and a bit territorial. I explained to Kirby (for that was hi name) that it was all right and that things were fine, and soon it was fine. The owner apologized, I said no apology was needed and Kirby headed off into the sunset. I took pictures of a downy woodpecker and of a yellow-rumped warbler.
I stopped and got gas, and then headed home. My wife and I drove our dog Beatrice to Celebration Park. She was nervous about the car ride (which she associates with vet trips) but she loved the park walk. Celebration Park has open fields of really spongy grass lawns.
We went to dinner at NoSoo, a local sushi place.The sushi was good. We rented "Sunshine Cleaning" with Amy Adams and Emily Blunt, which we quite enjoyed. Now we are watching one of those odd shows in which a couple in a foreign country are house-shopping. Tonight a major cold front moves in.