Mountain View

One calm day last week.

Thoughts from the Road - #902

Since my long run ideally shouldn't exceed more than 1/3 my total weekly mileage, I find myself running some days back to back. I like days off to think and plan and on mornings when the cats have been demons the night before it is even more difficult to get moving. This was one of those mornings.

I was adding in another 4 miler today to help build my overall endurance. I thought I would mix it up a little by running to Branch Rd and cutting down to the new Café Lemont. I was trying to time it just right by getting started just after it was light enough but not get to the café before it opened. I added in one other little time table twist as to be able to grab a coffee and make it onto a bus to come home and shower as soon as possible.

I got off a little late so it was definitely light enough to enjoy watching the crows enjoy their morning in Sterns Crossing. No Coopers Hawk nor deer this morning however. The sprinklers were on in many lawns and on the soccer field near Houserville Elementary. More crows were enjoying the fields there.

As I approached Houserville Rd. I was extra vigilant looking for traffic, my iPod was a little too loud and this was one of the few places where I had to run with cars. All went well but I was surprised by an early morning biker emerging from the parking lot of Spring Creek Park. It was Jimmy-the-Eye!!

Get this, he was disappointed to see me! I popped out my earphone as I met up with him on the bike trail and he said he was trying to beat me. If you are a reader of this blog who really knows us, you may be as shocked as I was when I heard him say that. It was but a heartbeat of confusion for me because he finished the statement with, "... I wanted to surprise you by doing a chalk drawing on the trail up ahead of you."

What a treat to have my dear fellow with me even for a couple of minutes. We laughed and enjoyed the next 1/4 mile together before we kissed our hands and slapped them on each other's arms and nearly colliding. He went onward to work and I turned toward Lemont on the bike trail.

One reason I waited for the sun to come up was I wanted to take a couple of photos with our cell phone. It is of a cute little bandaid stencil I saw the day before on the same running route. It was painted on a crack in the bike trail on top of a hill. I added it to our Guerrilla Art blog and you can see the photos at this link.

Just one other person was on the trail and I passed this walker on the final approach to Branch Rd. My complete run was about 4.5 miles and I celebrated with some French Roast before jumping on the next bus home.

Walking the final bit on College Ave I got a close look at a new red hot air balloon that was enjoying the temperature of the morning. It had small flags dangling as decoration around it's lower third. The morning was filled with a lot of little treats and I was glad to have gotten my butt out the door.

Early November Vignettes

This will be mostly photos since I don't have a lot of time to spare and it hurts my back to sit at the computer for too long.

I just love living where a hot air balloon will just skim by my roof and off into the field. This morning a crow sat on a craggy old branch of a dead tree in our yard and called, "Hello, hello" to me until I went out and took it some peanuts. No, really, it said "hello." It is who we call the Hello Crow, someone must have taught it to speak and it has been around for years. Fortunate happenings like that are plentiful here.

Just a couple of hours drive can take us into some of the most beautiful and remote parts of the state. Leave your cell phones behind but get ready to enjoy the opportunity to see so many starts in the night sky that you have a hard time picking out the main constellations.

I don't live in the city thus have not taken on the useless habit of venting at the traffic that gets in our way as RGBisMe drives. He is pretty zen about it too come to think of it. This attitude helps when we have to travel in and out of New York City to visit Asrai and Ravenboy. We leave a little extra time and thermostats stay cool in the car and in our personal core. Why fret? We will get there.

On the topic of dearest Asrai and Ravenboy I feel I may share the news of their upcoming wedding. Many will be shocked and feel the event in a couple of weeks has been a quick decision. I can assure everyone that their friendship that started many years ago when they met in Chicago and has blossomed into the most beautiful partnership. Well over a year ago, they started planning their wedding. They are very private individuals and have only shared the information with just their closest friends and family recently. Our next trip into NYC will be for that joyous occasion and we will return with them for a local reception for family that was unable to make the trip.

As we have been personally planning the local festivities it has been a very exciting and busy time. RGBisMe and I have happily been putting our heads together over supper in the evenings putting our special touches on anything we can help with and trying not to overstep our bounds. The wedding announcements were just sent out, the caterer is set with the menu, the baker has the cake specifications and the venue is booked.

A lot of the hustle and bustle of planning finally let up a bit after beginning of the month. I foresaw the upcoming little window of rest so earlier in October we accepted a generous invitation to camp with Jbzfarm! This past weekend was the date and we had such a good time catching up with them.

No iPod was needed to listen to, we sang tv show tunes. No computer was needed to surf the Internet, we filled our evening with lively chatter. No stars on tv to gawk at and poke fun at, we enjoyed star gazing in the Perry County skies. Not a chance of boredom, we enjoyed multiple board games, traded stamp carving secrets and sipped secret stuff from Sevoflorane bottles. All of that was our DOWN TIME at night!

Days were filled with local trails and tales. We walked to a pond which it is rumored will be dredged for a 15 year old cold case that is being reopened. A woman had disappeared nearby. We hiked to check on a couple of lonely letterboxes. The long standing Old Growth boxes were in fine shape and the hitch hikers that had been long waiting with their thumbs outstretched were finally moved on. We visited the ghost town of Pandemonium and another cemetery of local forestry folks.

We didn't even make a dent in all the trails that this area of Perry County has to offer. Most tempting were the remote camp sites outside of Fowlers Hollow SP that were near overlooks. The star gazing would be premium and no one around for miles to walk through the area.

We really must return. I know I slowed everyone down because I had hurt my back just hours before leaving. I feel badly for being the bent old lady and want to go back to hike every stretch of trail with freedom of movement. Thank you Jbzarm for being gracious and never acting like my snails pace was a bother to you. You were the consummate hosts, giving everything and expecting nothing in return.

Even though we are probably at opposite ends of the political spectrum, it was great to share a weekend with a family that appreciates the lands of central PA. We were all patting the ancient hemlocks and wondering what their fate would be with the woolly adelgid killing so many. Hunters and vegetarians hiking together and enjoying their commonalities rather than picking battles and trying to convince each other that they must be mistaken. Friendships fostered from nurtured common ground are very satisfying.