Inventions, Running and Going to the Beach

On their walk along the Androscoggin Riverwalk earlier this week, Sam and my parents were dismayed to find a lot of trash and cigarette butts along the river and shoreline. So Sam dreamed up an invention to pick up the trash without having to touch it. Then she and Neenie worked on it, and they went back yesterday to actually put it into action. Armed with Sam's invention, some latex gloves and an enthusiasm for cleaning up the environment, they ended up with an overflowing trash bag full of trash. Apparently, they saw a woman out there walking her dog who said, "There is hope for the future yet!" when she found out what they were doing. I am so proud of my little inventor and environmentalist!

They also went out to the "beach" at Skofield Preserve after lunch for a short walk and were lucky enough to meet a fisherman who let Sam try to reel in a fish, and had the chance to see an eagle perched in a nearby pine tree! Sounds like a pretty good day to me!

This morning, I got up and out early to get my run in. I had hoped to get out to Head of Tides but the field/old road/grass areas were a bit too overgrown for me, so I altered my route and ran a bit of a random smattering out through the Cathance instead. I felt good and enjoyed the wander on a nice and cool morning; on the plus side there were no bugs, and I scared up two deer in two different spots along the way. The second scared the begeejesus out of me as he snorted loudly at me before bounding off into the woods! I would guess if I was wearing a HR monitor, my HR would have shot up quite high at that moment ;) Ha. Got in 8 miles before heading home for breakfast.

After we had all gotten cleaned up and organized, Sam, Mom, Dad and I headed down to Cape Elizabeth to Kettle Cove. It really is a nice little beach, and we found the parking lot only half full and the tide very low. Perfect! Not to mention, there was not a cloud in the sky and we had a lovely breeze to keep us cool. A beautiful morning to spend a few hours at the beach!