The Special Olympians had track and field practice prepping for Spring Games tonight. Joe and I oversaw the long jumpers to lead off, then assisted in the tennis ball toss. Then we hauled some stray hurdles out of the way of the runners a little later on the track. On to our favorite task of the evening, monitoring the finish line for the 50 and 100 yard track events and urging the athletes on to give it their best. All of them stayed the course and kept in their lanes to the end. Lotta heart from all of them. The gathering dusk had us hearing the local owls in between events. Having spent so many years working in urban areas, I hadn't heard owls in decades, it was an odd but comforting sound to be reminded of the nature always around us here in Southern Illinois.