Back to Shorts

It is hunting season here in Maine. This means lots of orange gear when out running. But Sundays are a day of no hunting. Which means, take a deep breath, still wear your orange, and head out into the woods to enjoy the peace and quiet. All of which I intended to do today. So, after a really really really early wake-up (darn you, daylight savings!!), a yummy breakfast and fun on the indoor playground at The Fresh Batch, and some time in LLBean, I headed out for my run right at noon, shortly after Sam went down for her nap. It was a beautiful blue sky day, and it had warmed up nicely to right around 50 degrees. Back to shorts weather! Wearing a long sleeve top with my bright yellow-orange MDI Marathon t-shirt from 2008 over it (see hunting note above), I was perfectly comfortable.

I ran through the woods to the quarry, and then down along the river. The bright sunlight filtered down through the remaining leaves on the trees and pockets of cold air greeted me in the hollows. The water rushed over the rapids along the river, and the leaves crunched underfoot. I had the trails to myself. It was lovely. After meandering the twisty trail along the Ravine loop, I headed out on the back Highland Green roads to Tospham Crossing. I was feeling good, and was pondering the rest of my route as I neared the powerlines. And then, BAM! A shot. Loud. Very nearby. Followed by a second shot! I stopped, my heart pounding. It was Sunday! There should be no hunting! What the hell?! Another shot sounded. And that was that. That was all I needed. I turned right, instead of left, and hightailed it back home. I was really looking forward to getting in more miles, but I had no desire to be shot at, and honestly, after hearing the shots, I just sort of lost my desire to be out running in the woods alone. I am sure someone was just doing target practice, but sheesh! It was pretty creepy. I ended up with 8 miles on the nose in 1:15.

We rounded out the afternoon playing outside in the leaves and the sandbox, and then having Nate, Shannon and Charlotte over to dinner (Finley was spending a few days with his grandparents). The two girls had lots of fun! There was lots of giggling going on :-) It was a great time!