Hart Park is my favorite retreat, my home away from home. It is only minutes - yet a world away - from town. There is a lake in the middle, with an island, and the river runs past the park. There are so many birds, both water birds, including ducks, geese, herons, egrets, cormorants and coots, and non-water birds, including peacocks, hummingbirds, woodpeckers, a flock of parakeets, and a host of others that I don't know the names of. There is a guy circling the island on a paddle board this morning. Once I saw a beaver, I think - all I could see was its eyes and brown forehead above the water as it swam by in the early morning. That was one sighting in 40-plus years of coming out here. There are tree squirrels, ground squirrels, raccoons, skunks - which you might be surprised to see, as I was, emerging from holes in the ground, and cats. Lots of cats, which are fed daily by the Cat People. Once I saw a coyote, which was tailing me and my very large dog until I pointed my walking stick at it and told it to leave us. The only unnatural sounds that mar the peace out here are occasional cars that drive through, especially on weekends, with their music blasting, and gunshots from the shooting range. Why they have a shooting range in a park I don't know, but I hate it. My current dog won't even get out of the car, stays hunkered down on the floor because that sound scares her so badly, so I don't bring her out here anymore. It can get really busy on holidays and weekends, so I don't usually come out here then, but early weekday mornings are the best, the closer to sunrise the better. It is so beautiful and peaceful.