It was another hot day today, but it didn’t deter this little guy, who posed for half a dozen photos along the trail. I even left the trail to get super-close to him and he didn’t flinch, but my photos were too close and were blurry.

Today’s Quote of the Day, from me: "If I get any closer, he could reach out and bite me!"

We kept up with our exercises today, but this time we went indoors to take advantage of the air conditioning in the Education Arts building at Bemidji State University.

We get a kick out of this sign above the water fountain.

I think someone wants to be absolutely sure no one pours paint into the fountain.

After we left the campus, we were back in the heat, sweltering away, and again I took a swim at Diamond Point Park. This time, though, the water felt wonderful. I could have stayed in there all afternoon, but I just swam out a ways, swam back a ways, floated a bit and came back out.

When we got back to my place, we had a pleasant surprise. Michelle Ruckdaschel, the Pioneer’s former education reporter, joined us on the lawn chairs. We called her "mean" because she brought delicious bars with chocolate chips in them, and of course we each "had" to have one.

(Anyone who knows Michelle knows that she is never mean. In fact, we at the Pioneer routinely refer to her as the nicest person in the world.)

It was really great to see her again. We had a nice talk!

Today’s How Well Do You Know Bemidji? photo:

Yesterday’s mystery photo was the U in BSU on the outside of Chet Anderson Stadium.

We’re going to mix things up a bit Monday. Stay tuned …

– Laurie