I live pretty close to a protected natural area, Riverside State Park. Yesterday I went running there because it was sunny, warm, and nature beckoned me, and I like it when that happens.

One of the first things I did was give a hug to an old friend. We go back a long way.

My family used to camp here when I was a kid, even though we lived only twenty minutes away. It was during one of those camping trips that I threw a rock at a robin and killed it. As I gave it a post-mortem inspection, I didn’t feel so good about what I did. I often threw rocks at birds, but after that I stopped.

I ran around on the trails, but the photo below that I took didn’t turn out so good. The fault is the camera’s, not the camera operator.

There’s a pedestrian bridge which I’ve run across many bunches of numerous times. When I was a student, just for a thrill I crawled over the railing in the middle of the bridge when the river was running high and hung from the cable by one hand. It really isn’t that much of a risk. For a cautious person as myself, it’s about as far as I go.

I climbed a basalt pillar next to the river that has been my favorite place to take a break from running since I explored these woods as a track and cross-country runner for nearby Spokane Falls Community College.

I wanted to just sit and admire beauty, but realized I would be remiss if I did not exert authority over river traffic since I was in a gate-keeping, sentry-like position.

Soon, some kayakers came down the river. A couple of ‘em weren’t staying to the right, and they were sloppy with their oar-handling. A third member of the party was okay, and I let him pass.The other two I directed to approach and issued warnings. Their apologies and promises to do better were sufficient, and I let them pass.

Even though there were very few park visitors, I ran into a couple educators I know from my days as a teacher and a couple members of a running club I belong to. It’s a good thing I didn’t run into them the last time I visited Riverside State Park. I wrote about that incident in a previous post, Trail Running Encounter with Hot Babe Leads to Disrobing in Meadow. That would have been embarrassing.