Pastoral Wander

We met up with our friends Doug, Lucy, and their adorable 16 month old Adam, for a bit of good 'ol catch up and "chase your child around" on Sunday afternoon. They only live about a 1/2 hour away, so it worked out perfectly! After hanging in the hotel for a bit, we decided to take advantage of the fact that the skies had cleared, and walked into downtown Williamstown. It really is a beautiful village. The kids had fun walking around and we all managed to work up a hunger for some delicious Indian food! My parents had been down at the Williams College Museum of Art, and they met us at the restaurant for an early dinner. The kids were great, and we all enjoyed chatting and eating together.

On Monday morning, Ryan had a meeting in town, so Sam and I relaxed a bit with my parents, my cousin Jason and his family before I took advantage of my parent's stellar babysitting to go out for a run. Thanks guys! I decided to run the road loop Ryan had run on Friday. I've run parts of it before, as the incorporates roads near my grandmother's house. It ended up being a great 6 mile wander, down through town, up Stratton Road, along the river on Rt. 43 and then back into town via Gale Road and Spring Street. The stretch along Stratton Road was beautiful. And hilly! (See a theme for the weekend here!? :-) ) After a good long uphill, the road turns to dirt, and rolls through quiet farmlands, with sweeping views over the green pastures out to the hills beyond. Fluffy, low clouds were covering the hilltops, and hints of fall color were evident on some of the trees at the field edges. There were a lot of cows out at one of the farms, with a few browsing the grasses at the fence edges. The big bovines looked up as I went by, their deep brown eyes following me as I ran down from the top of the rise. Purple asters and wild grapes, along with a mass of greenery, vied for space along the road's edge.

The stretch along Rt. 43 is flat and busy, but before long, I turned off onto another hilly residential road which wound around the edge of town, finally dropping me by the Clark, where I took to the sidewalks again for the last stretch. My legs felt a bit stiff, but despite the hills, I managed to run 8:30s for the route. When I walked into the inn, a bunch of the family was by the front desk, checking out. Sam saw me, and ran towards me, smiling, but stopped short. "Mama sweaty!" she said, before turning away. No hugs for me until I was clean, apparently :-)

Eventually, it was time to pack up and head home, after a very nice weekend. It was really great to see all the family. I didn't get the chance to talk with everyone as much as I would have liked, but I really loved seeing Sam race around with her second cousins, and having time to chat with the other cousins who are now parents. And although it was a sad occasion that brought us together, Mim lived a long and happy life, and she would have truly loved that the whole family was together for the weekend. We all had a great time, and it was a fitting tribute to a life well lived.

Here is the best photo I took all weekend. Do they love each other or what?! :-) (More photos to come once I get ahold of my parent's camera later this week!)

Cousin love :-) Morgan and Sam.