Since the days are so hot, and there is no relief, the only thing I can do is to go for my walk very early in the morning; I leave at 5.30am. This morning, I also thought I’d look in at the Mink Hole, as Danny calls the waterfall area. So it was a two-hour walk.

I started walk alone, but was soon joined by the sun; here it is, reflected in the windows of the new construction on the Washington University Danforth campus: As I walked down Lindell Boulevard, along the edge of Forest Park, it peeped out at me through the trees, touching the leaves with red and gold: At the Mink Hole, I got the briefest glimpse of the mother mink, and she did not reappear. But another mother...the Wood Duck...was there with her family: A Northern Cardinal called from right over my head: On my way back, I saw the number plate of this car, parked in its usual place: That number plate makes sense only when you realize it belongs to a firefighter, who belongs to this fire station: NOW, the phonetic rendering of "Fire 30" makes sense, doesn't it! How lovely to have someone so invested in his job that his number plate reflects it! (Male pronoun correct, there are no women working in Fire Station 30 as far as I know...and I know most of them by sight now, and we often exchange cheery "Good morning"s as I walk past.) It was already getting warm and it was quite sticky, so back home I came.

At the Mink Hole, I loved the moving waves of light that were reflected on the rocks from the creek, and got this short video: