7 At 7

I got out for 7 miles right around 7pm. The skies had lightened after the rain, but there was still a heavy cloud cover overhead. The temperature was cooler than it had been in days, and I didn't even feel the need to bring my handheld. Still, I left rather reluctantly. I was tired and feeling uninspired. But there were miles to be run, so out I went. I headed out on the powerlines to run the dump loop. There were big, unavoidable puddles, some of them over ankle deep, all along the trail. Birds were chirping. I listened to a pair of hawks call back and forth in the clearing off Lover's Lane. The woods got darker and darker as I ran along, and I was glad to pop back out onto the powerlines and into the open at 4.5 miles. I turned right, and headed back home, the sky ahead turning orange and gold as the sun began to set. Amongst the grasses and blueberry bushes, I noted over 20 wood lilies, their deep orange flowers set against the greenery. As I hit the pavement back at the high school, with less than a 1/2 mile to go, I looked up and realized the street lights were on. It doesn't seem right that the days are getting shorter already! Or perhaps, as Valerie suggested, it was just the overcast skies making it seem so dark. I think I like that idea a bit better :-)