Call Me Boris

Had to work all afternoon, then headed over to the Mill Creek trail system at Shawnee Mission Park for a twilight run (5:30-6:30; sunset at 5:06). That necessitated changing clothes in a port-a-potty, which is never the most fun, but the rest of the run was. My legs had been heavy and sore all week, so I was a bit worried they would still feel fatigued even after taking yesterday off. But as I eased into the run I quickly loosened up and settled into a nice rhythm. I had my sport radio strapped onto my arm with WHB playing the late football games and found a mentally focused zone to match my physical one. A couple miles in I worried that I was going to start tightening up as the run progressed, but it never happened. So I kept my momentum going and never stopped to take in the scenery, but I came across at least 20 deer over the course of the run. It was an out-and-back, so maybe I saw the same ones twice, but they were constant and most of them let me get within at least 10 yards before trotting off to a safer distance. They would start as dark shapes in the darkness just beside the trail that would eventually begin to take shape just before the white tail leaped out of the blackness to give them away. Almost no fear of humans. Then near the end I almost stumbled onto a pair of skunks. Luckily they began wobbling away just before I got close enough to seem really threatening, otherwise I might not have noticed them in time. I suppose deer and skunk aren't quite the same as moose and squirrel, but there was no shortage of wildlife.