Howell Park

It's June. Heat and humidity have descended upon Florida in full force. It's oppressive and we are pretty much homebound during the day. Ugh. This makes for bored and restless dogs. When possible, we try to get out in the evenings for a walk. Unfortunately, I'm usually exhausted after work so even if a walk happens it's a bit lackluster for poor Jedi. I'm trying to keep him occupied with nosework and puzzle toys. We're also doing some obedience training indoors. We don't need much space to work on the "front" and "heel" positions.

Yesterday Jedi and I had our weekly nosework class. Afterwards I needed to go into work to feed the animals in the kennel. Until we hire another ACO, I'm pulling double duty. (Between you and me, I could use the overtime.) I decided to take Jedi with me. He got to bark at meet some of my coworkers at City Yard. A couple pieces of chicken leftover from class convinced him that the guys were OK. Then we grabbed a couple burgers at McDonalds and stopped by one of my favorite places at the beach.

Howell Park is a small park with multiple coquina paths winding throughout. There's a stream full of tiny fish and a big pond full of turtles. I've seen birds, squirrels, raccoons and armadillos scamper across the trails. Last summer we had reports of otters swimming in the stream. And if you're in the park at dusk you can hear the owls hooting to each other. It's such a peaceful place right in the middle of the city. A brisk, walk through the park can improve my mood in 15 minutes.

Despite the beauty and shade of a thousand trees, it was unbearably hot yesterday. I ended up taking a few pictures and cutting our walk short. Sorry Jedi.

If you happen to be out this way, make sure to stop by Howell Park. It's a great place to picnic and take a few photos. Make sure to save some crumbs for the turtles. -- K

P.S. As an ACO I feel it necessary to point out that no leash laws were broken to get these shots. Jedi is securely tethered to a fixed object in both pictures -- I'm just getting better at positioning the camera to crop out the leash.