Anne was still working the election, so I rode alone in the Park last night.  The weather was clear, but cool, only in the low fifties.  I got sixteen miles in on the ride.

Near the end of the ride I ran into Edward again, of Forest Park 365 fame.  He was still lugging his big rig of a camera around, looking for owls.  I walked with him and we began introducing ourselves to each other, all the while positioning ourselves for pictures.  We found a good spot and began taking pictures.  A minute later Mark of Forest Park Owls appeared.  Mark as the name of his website says is all about owls in the Park 

Mark identified the owl we were taking pictures of as Sarah, of Charles and Sarah, a mating pair of Great Horned Owls that he has named and has been following for three years.  Their offspring for this year he has named Art and Moe.  I don’t get the reference, but last year’s offspring he named Bart, Lisa and Maggie.  You got to love getting to name other people’s kids.

Mark asked me if I had ever seen a Great Horned Owl before.  To my regret, I said that I had.  It was about ten years ago and it was in July.  I was riding the Katy east from Sedalia, over a weekend.  It was Sunday morning and it was already hot.  The thermometer hit a hundred on both days.  I was west of Herman when I encountered a Great Horned Owl.  It was grounded on the trail with a broken wing.  The trail at that point paralleled a road.  I didn’t want to turn back, to look for help.  So I poured out some water for it and squeezed by this rather large, upset bird.  I should have done more.

The sun was soon sinking lower in the west and I had neglected to bring lights.  So I bade farewell to Ed and Mark and launched towards home.  I noticed a nearly full moon rising as I headed home, daring to be greater.  This was a most excellent ride.

PS — Anne saw the nearly full moon rising on her way into work and saw the same nearly full moon rising on the way home. Plus, she has this gorgeous new sock to show for the day.  I’m thinking that I’ll be like Jane and liberate Gene’s Anne’s clothes.