I saw:
Squirrel beer, dead mink, goldfinch, pimple-back, pine. And single men by them selves in beat up cars.

A squirrel sucking the gumption out of a beer bottle lying beside the road. A dead mink beside the path. There was blood in the middle of the path and a big stick beside it. I figure someone on a bicycle ran into the mink while he was crossing the path and either that same person shoved the dead mink to the side of the path with the stick or another soul did. Or maybe someone injured the mink and then killed it with the stick. My friend Ginger saw lots of minks last weekend in a campground where she was, even with lots of folks around. I didn’t know that minks eat muskrats! They must be ferocious predators. I put him way back in the weeds. Goldfinches- a male chasing a female, they were fluttering through the air and the pine limbs like golden confetti. Three young men running on the path, one with a pimply back. Four dead Austrian pines, casualties of last year’s drought and heat. And, this gives me pause, several men sitting by themselves in old beat-uo cars on roads that are not well-travelled that I like to use on my bike. Are they homeless or up to no good? I may find a riding companion or else stay off those roads. All-in-all, though, a good ride. Focus on the light but acknowledge the dark.