Down to the Ocean

Starting this week, I'm on a new work schedule. I'm now working four full days with Fridays off. Since I'm not working a 40-hour week anyway, I can do this and still be able to get Sam to school in the mornings. I realize I am very lucky in this, and I certainly don't take it for granted. So, this means that on Fridays I have six hours to myself. Hurray! This morning, after I dropped Sam off I headed over to the Bowdoin field house and headed out through the Commons. The air was brisk and with the breeze, I almost felt like I could have worn tights, but of course, once I got moving, I was quite comfy in shorts and a long sleeve shirt.

I always love running out through the Commons and down to the ocean via the Coleman Farm trails but at this time of year the woods are especially pretty. The blueberry bush leaves were a fiery red, set against the green needles and greyish-brown trunks of the pitch pine trees. The orange, red and yellow leaves of the maples reflected in the old town skating pond, while a group of mallards swam by. Out in the Pennelville fields, the tails of the brown cows swished back and forth as the leaves of the aspen quaked in the breeze. The trails were littered with downed leaves, red, gold and brown. A crow chased a Kingfisher back and forth across one of the farm ponds, the water's edge lined with deep purple asters. Down at the edge of the salt marsh, the grasses were beginning to turn a deep yellow.

I kept things fairly mellow out there, stopping to take photos along the way and to talk with a young Bowdoin student who was curious about which road the trails ended on at the far end of the Commons. As I was telling her how she could make a loop back on the roads, I realized she looked so young. Damn. I don't feel old but I have been running on these trails and these roads for 20 years! Amazing.

Ended up with a lovely 10 miles on a beautiful fall morning. Now I had better get back to work checking things off my to-do list!