Happy

Fun at the playground this morning

Sam at 20 Months

Daycare is closed today, so Sam and I are having a mother/daughter day, as Ryan is over at Great Glen for work. We had a good morning, walking around outside and drawing with our chalk on the sidewalk, getting an ear check (all clear! Yeah!), and stopping off at the Brunswick Farmer's Market before coming home. Sam got a kick out of the market. It's another beautiful day, and we walked around and got a treat, and some salad greens, and played with the three adorable 9 week old kittens that the Humane Society had there with one of their volunteers. There were tons of kids crowded around the big three-story cage, and Sam had a chance to take one of the feather-topped wands and play with the little black kitten who was being the most playful at the time. And now, well, she's sleeping and the house is blissfully quiet, the bills are paid, the house is clean(ish), and I even got out to weed the garden a bit! Wow :-)

Amazingly, Sam is 20 months old today! At this point, I suppose I should stop counting her age in months, but I can't resist using the passing of another month as an excuse to give an update on how she's growing and progressing. We most certainly have a self-centered, testing toddler on our hands right now. There is a lot of "my my my", a lot of doing exactly what we asked her not to do with a little sly grin on her face, and a lot of "no no no" to herself and to us as she starts to do what she knows she shouldn't. But we also have a truly loving, friendly, helpful and social toddler on our hands. One who loves to go to school and play with her friends. Who is learning to share her toys. And pick up the blocks when she is done with them. And even, sometimes, put her toys away after she's done using them! One who loves to give kisses, and pat my back when I pick her up. Who lays her head on our shoulders to give us hugs, and who will blow kisses when we leave the room. She's a bit more shy of strangers these days, even those people she knows but doesn't see regularly, but she's curious and still pretty social, so after a bit of head turning, eyes down and clutching at our legs, she'll turn her head and shyly smile. Oh so coyly. As if to say, I'm cute, don't you know :-)

We are spending a lot of time coloring these days (or "yaya!" as Sam calls it). She would color all over everything in the house if we let her, but she's pretty good at (mostly) only drawing on her pads of paper or her box of crayons. And now that the weather is nice, we've also been spending lots of time playing outside. Lots and lots of outside! Sam loves to walk around, picking up leaves or dirt or sticks or stones, and stomping in puddles. And shyly "playing" with some of the neighborhood kids, who think she is just the cutest little baby ever :-) (Honest, they said so!) We've also discovered sidewalk chalk, which is a lot of fun and a good source of entertainment. Sam has been getting pretty steady on her feet, and is walking around really well, even on uneven ground. She's also getting to be a bit more of a daredevil, standing up on her "bike" or the stool inside, and trying to climb up onto the chairs. She also likes to try to slither off the bed in the morning after we've gotten dressed for the day, which is super cute, given that her feet are still like a foot off the ground even when she's halfway off the side of the bed!

She continues to amaze us every day with her vocabulary. Earlier this week, she picked up a container of leftovers from the bottom shelf in the fridge, and said, clear as day, "heavy!" She tries to fit things into different containers, saying "it fits" or "it's stuck." She can now say many of her body parts, including neck, feet, eye, nose, elbow, and knee. She knows how to say the colors blue, red, black, white, pink and brown. She picks up her toy phone, and says "hello" in just the intonation I'm sure I say it when I answer the phone :-) She constantly asks "What is?" about everything around her, wanting to know exactly what all manner of things are. If we finish our breakfast/lunch/dinner before she does, and our plates are empty, she will point to them and say "more," as in, come on, you need more! Fill your plate up again! The other morning, as I was putting on her socks, I said, "one sock," to which she replied "two," in her cute little voice, while reaching for her other foot. And later, when playing with her wooden blocks, she picked up two with one hand, held them out to me and proudly said "two!" She will also stretch her hands up over her head while laying on the bed waiting to get dressed, and say "stretch"! And perhaps cutest of all, whenever we go out, and she says "Mama, Daddo" to make sure we are there with her, she then says "Gigi, Ronnie" because, well, she knows they are part of her family too :-) She's a character all right!

Minimum

I really wanted to squeeze in a run today, because I'm not sure I'll get out there tomorrow or Saturday. But I needed to be to work by 9:00, and needed to run a few errands after I dropped Sam off at daycare, so the only way I was going to get my run in was to do it before we left the house. I didn't manage to get out before Sam woke up, so I ended up calling Ryan downstairs at 7:00am, at which point I quickly changed into my running clothes and was out the door by 7:12. I didn't have much time, so I did the bare minimum. Well, actually, the minimum plus an extra 0.35 miles to get to the week's mileage to an even 25 :-) Pretty low mileage for the week, but it will do.

Despite the fact that it was only a little after 7am, and the skies were overcast, the air was heavy. I know they're calling for bad air quality today, so I'm glad I was able to get my run in when I did! Also glad I'll be in the gallery with the A/C running today. Looks like it's going to be a hot one!

Webbed

I've always considered myself a hiker, runner and skier, but let's face it, these days I'm really truly just a runner. I mean, I only skiied once this past season, and our hiking lately has consisted of little jaunts near home with Sam either in the backpack, or on foot, meaning our pace isn't exactly quick, and our mileage is next to none. I wouldn't trade our recent excursions for anything, of course! I love that Sam loves to be outside, and I feel honored and excited to be able to introduce her to the natural world, and to the joys of hiking and wandering in the woods. And I know that someday we'll get back to doing more true hiking, and backpacking, both with and without her. We're just not in that phase right now.

Anyway, all of this is to say that I experienced a sensation today while running that I hadn't felt in a while. When we were hiking the AT, if we happened to camp away from the shelter and so were the first ones on the stretch of trail beyond our campsite the next morning, or if by some chance, we were the first ones out of the shelter area, we would often run into some serious spider webs across the trail. Some mornings, the webs were so thick (amazing what those industrious little spiders can do in a few hours!) that I would flick my poles out in front of me as I walked, in the hopes that the webs would be broken by the poles, and not my face, head, arms, etc! Even so, poor Ryan would still get the higher webs in his face, the ones that I had glanced under. Ah, being webbed! Such was life along the trail :-)

This morning, I woke up not feeling great. I hadn't slept well and my stomach felt off (this is probably TMI, but one of the only things I truly miss about being pregnant and the early nursing days, is not having my period! Of course, it's been back to reality for a while now, and well, today was just one of those days). I had hoped to get in 7 miles on the Cathance trails this morning, as due to scheduling for the rest of the week, I wasn't sure how much running I'd be able to do over the course of the next few days. And then I woke up feeling blah. I moaned and groaned, and hemmed and hawed, and Ryan finally pushed me out the door. Well, once I got out there, I just put myself on autopilot and went. I didn't give myself the chance to not do the intended loop. I just ran. And amazingly, after the first mile up and over Mt. Ararat, I felt good. Once I got onto the Cathance trails, I realized I must be the first one out using them this morning. I was getting webbed left and right. But I just smiled. Brought back memories. And meant I had the trails to myself. I won't complain about that.

The woods were lush and green. Most of the early season wildflowers are gone. A few pink ladyslippers still grace the edge of the trails, and the bunchberries are abundant, but otherwise, it is green green green everywhere you look. I was also surprised to find that the water level of the river was down significantly from our outing down to Barnes Leap with Sam on Memorial Day. And with all the spring rain and this recent spate of warm weather, the grassy sections of trail are getting a bit unruly. I love these trails for their natural feel, but the stretches that run through the long field grass and the blackberry brambles make my legs itch. I guess summer is on its way!

So in the end, I got in 7.15 miles in 1:09:10 and I was happy. I felt better, and I was glad I went for it. Thanks to Ryan for the extra push! I headed in for a quick snack and a shower, and I even managed to get to work on time :-)

More, More, More!

When Sam sees one of our plates empty at the table, she points to it and says "more." As if to say, come on Mama, your plate is empty. Get on it! You must need more, right? When I ask her where her elbow is, she will point to one side and say "elbow." If I ask her where her other elbow is, she will point to the other side and say "more." When she wants more of something, anything, she says "more," in her cute, adorably drawn-out way. When we blow raspberries on her tummy, she laughs hysterically and says, insistently, "more, more!" We are all about more these days :-) There is no restraint here!

~

After I dropped Sam off at daycare this morning, I came home and headed out the door for a 5 mile run on the Homeplace loop. It was sunny and a bit warm already in the open, but in the shade, it was perfect. My plan was for a pretty easy run, but I was also hoping to run the miles evenly. I think I pretty much succeeded, give or take a few seconds on either side of 9:00 pace, but I'll have to consult the Garmin tonight to be sure. My splits from Pineland ranged from 7:54 in the second mile (oops!) to an almost 10:00 mile (oops again!) in the last mile of the Campus loop, so I'd really like to get a bit more consistent in my pacing while running and racing. I realize the terrain in the two miles I mentioned are quite different, but still. That is a pretty big gap. Anyway, it was another beautiful morning for a run. I scared up a deer in the brush by Highland Green Road, heard the bullfrogs in the marshy spot at the bottom of the hill, and spotted a few house finch singing atop the bushes, plus a few catbirds flitting about. The ferns were letting off that wonderful smell I so love, and I noted two delicate and deep purple swamp iris amongst the reeds. In the sun along the powerlines, the blueberry bush flowers have given way to the start of fruit - hurray! - and patches of daisies and indian paint brush are blooming. It's as if Mother Nature is saying "more more more" in her own way, with everything blooming and growing at this time of year, and it's always fun to see what I can see out there!

Full Day

Today was packed with lots of activity, and we had a grand old time. It was supposed to be a nice day, and we decided to make sure we took advantage of both the weather, and the fact that we had a day to spend together. We were out of the house at 8:30am, headed to Bradbury. Originally, the thought was to head to Wolfe's Neck, but it was cool and windy this morning, and seemed likely to be pretty chilly down by the water, so we decided to head inland instead. Sam wouldn't care. She was just happy to be "outside"! :-)

We headed out onto the Northern Loop trail, with Sam walking between us. She lasted until the end of the field, and decided it was time for "up." So into the Ergo, and onto Daddo's back she went. We took the very well-groomed and raked Terrace Trail up to the summit (thanks Val and Mindy!). At the top, we were treated to a beautiful, blue sky day with a great view out to the ocean. Sam loved walking around up there, and did not want to get back in the Ergo for the quick 1/4 mile trip back to the parking lot. I'm sure the family we saw up top could hear her all the way until we hit the bottom! She was mollified a bit by the sight of the playground, where we played for a while before seeing Rick and Valerie finishing up their run. We walked over to say hello, although Sam was feeling a bit shy and wasn't all that talkative. Still, it was fun to see them, and it sounded like Valerie was recovering well from last weekend's 50. Yeah!

By this point, it was around time to head home, have lunch and put Sam to bed. So off we went, with the hopes that I would be able to meet up with them next Sunday for a run on the new Pineland/Bradbury Connector. Haven't checked it out yet, and am definitely looking forward to it! After a quick lunch, Sam went up to bed, and I headed out the door for my run. Another high noon run, but today, despite the clear skies, there was little humidity and a good breeze, making things quite comfortable out on the trails. My plan was for 9 to 10 miles, and I thought I'd head out on the powerlines in an attempt to do the route that Scott Ellis had shown me a few weeks ago during our Topsham Trails Day run. I certainly didn't run the same pace we were running that day, but I did successfully manage to run the same loop. Maybe my sense of direction isn't so bad after all :-) Ha! Anyway, it was a nice tromp through the woods. Everything is so green out there now, and I enjoyed the ladyslippers, bunchberry, star flowers, trout lilies, bluets and trailing arbutus carpeting the forest floor.

As I headed back toward home, I realized I would have to add on a bit to get the mileage closer to what I was hoping for, so I turned right on Tedford and ran up the dirt road into Highland Green. Soon after I hit 8 miles, my legs decided they had had enough, and I realized I was feeling pretty darn tired. I finished up the run with 9.5 on the Garmin, and that was more than enough. I was happy to come in, down some Gatorade and yummy coffee milk, and grab a bite to eat. Not much time to relax though - Sam was now up and ready to play again! Back outside to walk around, play with some of the neighborhood kids, and then come in so that we could get ready for Nate, Shannon, Finley and Charlotte to come over for dinner! It was nice to catch up with them, and the kids had fun playing together. Phew! I'd call that a full day, for sure, but definitely a fun one! I think I'm ready for bed now :-)

Beautiful!

What a perfect morning! Only 49 degrees when I headed out the door at 7:30 for a short run through Highland Green. The sky was blue as blue can be, with no clouds in sight. There was a slight breeze, and the air felt cool and dry. I wanted to feel perfectly wonderful to go along with the great running weather, but I could still feel a bit of general fatigue as I ran along. I'm planning to keep the mileage for next week pretty low too, but hope I can bounce back into some solid training after that, and feel good!

When I got home, just a half hour later, the iris outside the door had started to open, their deep purple flowers unfurling before my eyes. I took a quick shower, and at Sam's request, we went outside while Ryan went for his run. We drew on the sidewalk with some chalk, picked up leaves, ran up and down the sidewalk, stomped in some muddy puddles, and met one of the neighbor's dog. At that point, Sam decided she had had enough of walking around on her own, and so I walked around with her in my arms until Ryan came running up to us at the end of his run. Then it was time for me to head off to work. Sigh. Oh well, at least it was a fun outside morning! :-)

Powerline Run

Another short run this morning, but this time on the powerlines. After all the rain we have had, and this spate of warm weather, things are green, green, green out there! In the heavy air, the perfume from the honeysuckle and the flowering shrubs smells extra sweet. Along the edge of the trail, the subtle wood anemone has been replaced by groups of pink ladyslippers, large patches of bright white bunchberry, strawberry plants and star flowers, the yellows of the blue bead lily. A few big bull frogs croak in the swampy areas, and the crows caw overhead. Amidst the trees, goldfinch and chickadees chirp, their little forms hidden from sight by the expanding leaves. The wind whips up the pollen. A summer day, indeed.

Easy Three

My plan for this week is simple. A few short and sweet runs to recover from both Sunday's 25k and what was a pretty tiring week last week. With that in mind, I planned to head out for a 3 miler this morning after dropping Sam off at daycare. I came home to find Ryan all suited up in his running clothes - guess I was going to have a partner for this morning's run! Cool. I know Ryan has been frustrated by this sinus infection, and I was glad he was starting to feel good enough to want to get out for a run! He told me I needed to go easy on him, but honestly, in the first mile at least, I was doing all I could to just keep up with him :-) My legs were still feeling pretty stiff and tired, but as we ran along, I was feeling better and better.

Right before we headed out, I helped Ryan set his Garmin to automatically record the mile splits. I had finally did a google search to see if I could figure out how to do that last week, and was happy to have it work like a charm during the 25k! I had always figured there must be a way to automatically have the splits recorded but just hadn't sat down to look at the instructions. Thank goodness for google! It worked on Ryan's Garmin too, and today's splits read like a nice negative split: 9:10, 8:36, 8:23.

Cathance Wander, Midday Waddle & A Weekend In Pictures

We took a walk with Sam this morning down to the Cathance River. We parked at the Ecology Center, and she walked all the way down to the water by herself. We took the shortest route, but it was at least a 1/2 mile or so. She had a blast, although honestly, she had more fun stopping and digging in the dirt and gravel :-) Oh, and flinging it everywhere, including all over her head! She got a ride back on Daddo's back in the Ergo, after which we came home and gave her a quick bath before naptime. After she was asleep, I headed out for a short and slow 3-miler. It was 12:30, and the thermometer was reading 81 degrees. In the shade. Aie. I figured it was going to be a relatively painful run, but thought I'd likely also feel a bit better after stretching out my legs for a few miles. I started hobbling down the street, with my quads sore, as I ran what Ryan has dubbed the "Suck Loop." I'd say it lived up to its name today, but only because I was sore, and tired, and I was dumb enough to be out running on a route without shade in the heat of day, on one of the hottest days so far this year. My legs did feel a bit better after I finished, but I think I'll take a rest day tomorrow :-)

~

My parents were in town this weekend to help us out, and it was great to see them. Thanks so much guys! We really appreciate it, and Sam had lots of fun with "Nini" and "Pipi":-) Here are a few shots from the weekend, most of them courtesy, as usual, of my parents!

Drawing with Nani at LLBean

Reading with Mama

Fun with a cardboard box

Walking with Pip

Relaxing with Nani

Bubbles!

With Auntie Kristen, at Pineland

Race-side entertainment

Awww!

Swinging!

Headed down to the river,  gravel and dirt in hand

Sam and Daddo along the Cathance

On the move!

Drawing with Morgan while we wait for lunch

Bounce bounce!

2011 Pineland Farms Trail Challenge 25k Race Report (Or "Where Did I Lose Those Six Seconds?!")

I managed to miss beating Ryan's time from last year on the Pineland course by 6 seconds. Yup, six lousy seconds! Ah well, you win some, you lose some, and despite my best efforts, Ryan is still the reigning 25k record holder in our house. D*mn! :-) But really, it was all friendly banter, and although it would have been fun to beat his time, the reality is he can truly run much faster than that, and so it's sort of a moot point anyway. It did give me something to shoot for though, and I am thrilled to have finished in 2:14:05, which is a 12 minute PR, despite being 6 seconds off my mark.

The day dawned foggy and misty, and Ryan got up bright and early to head over to Pineland to cheer on all our friends starting the 50 miler at 6am. I got up and enjoyed a bit of quiet, before Sam woke up, and then the two of us headed over around 8:30. My parents, Kristen and Morgan met us there, and took over on Sam duty, so that I could get ready (which translates into: stand in line for an inane amount of time to use the port-a-potty) to race. I lined up at the start near Randy, Tom Whittaker and Jeremy. Jeremy is coming back from a stress fracture, so he decided to take it easy during the race, and we ended up running the first 5k together. It was fun to have someone to chat with, and the early miles went by quickly. I finally let him go, a bit reluctantly, near the yurt. We had gone through 5k in 24:00ish, which was just a touch too fast for me.

As we got into the fields beyond the yurt, the clouds finally burned off, and the sun came out. The fields were wet and sloppy, but after all the rain we'd had over the past few weeks, at least they were actually able to clear a decent path for us out there! Once the sun came out, the humidity became all the more noticeable. I stopped to tie my shoe at one point, and realized my face was hot, hot, hot. The silver lining was that there was indeed a breeze, which felt really nice when it kicked up! My goal was to run everything, so I slogged up the hills after the yurt, and did the same once I hit the Campus loop. I was happy to see Mindy and Valerie at the aid station at the bottom of the Campus loop. Val looked happy and relaxed! Hurray! The hills were definitely taking a bit out of me, but I tried to crank up the pace as I neared the top of the Campus loop and headed for the start/finish area.

Ryan yelled to me that I was 12th woman, and I think I made some sort of face in return to indicate that I was feeling the miles, the heat, the lack of sleep this past week. But, I did resolve to run as fast as my little legs could carry me over on Oak Hill. Once I crossed the street, I ended up with a guy who was walking all the hills I was running, and we were leap-frogging back and forth. Finally, as I passed him once again, I said, "we have to stop meeting like this." He replied, "yeah, otherwise we'll have to start talking to each other." We hopped back and forth a few times, and I finally lost him at the bottom of Gloucester Hill, when I ran about 1/2 way up. I heard him mutter, "No way," as I ran off. Of course, I did end up walking the second half of the hill. I just couldn't quite muster the run all the way up. But once I hit the top, I knew I only had a few miles to go, and I pushed as much as I could. I actually felt better in the final few miles than I did in the stretch up the Campus loop.

As I neared the finish line, after yelling "Go Danielle," Ryan yelled, in jest, "It's still mine!" :-) Just six seconds shy. Where did those six seconds go? Guess I shouldn't have stopped for those few sips of water, or walked those few extra steps up Gloucester Hill! Ha. Regardless, I felt like I gave it all I could give out there, and I'm happy with the result. Turns out, I ended up 10th woman too, which is cool. A solid day, overall, for sure!

Finish line push (Photo courtesy: Maine Running Photos)

Many, many thanks to Ian and Erik, and all the volunteers for putting on such a great race! It was fun (in that not-fun sort of way :-)) as always! Thanks too, to Ryan, for cheering his heart out (in fact, I think he lost his voice in the 12 hours he was out there helping and cheering!), and for providing me with a goal to for after. Also to Mom and Dad for watching Sam for us so we could play for the day! And last but not least, congrats to all the Trail Monsters for putting up some great results! Woohoo! Way to rock it everyone!!

RESULTS

Into the Mist

Turns out Sam has a double ear infection and croup (!). Ugh. Poor kid. The cough is pretty horrible, harsh and deep, and it makes her cry. This means that whenever she coughs in the night, she cries, and either wakes herself up or just goes on crying in her sleep. It is heart breaking. Unfortunately, there isn't much we can do except to ride it out, give her ibuprofin and tylenol for the pain and wait for the cough to get better. Oh, and hope that the antibiotics for the ear infection kick in soon too. Needless to say, it has been a rough week. And none of us have been getting much sleep. This does not an ideal taper week make.

I got out for a quick 3-miler this morning around 6:15am. Sam had just fallen back to sleep, and although crawling back into bed sounded nice, I thought a run might clear my head, get me ready for a long day at work, and help me relieve a little bit of the stress I've gathered up over the past few days. A light mist was falling, with low clouds hugging the treeline. The heavy air seemed to weigh me down, and made me think that the warmer temps and humidity are certainly going to be a factor tomorrow. I can't say the run did much to make me feel like I will be able to find another gear for the race tomorrow, but I will do my best!

All this being said, I am certainly looking forward to being out there tomorrow - Ian and Erik, and all the volunteers, do such a great job putting on these races, and it is such a fun atmosphere! So many of our friends will be out running, and I can't wait to see what the Trail Monsters will do on the trails tomorrow!!

Taper Madness

This morning, I headed out onto the same loop I ran last night, but did the loop in the opposite direction. You know, just because :-) It was bright and sunny and warm! Yeehaw! Of course, next thing you know, I'll be complaining about the summer heat, but this morning I reveled in it and enjoyed sweating for a few miles :-)

I had intended to run a bit more this morning, but it is what it is, and I guess the taper is just going to be a bit more extreme than intended this week. I'd say that means I'll be going into the race well-rested, but that would be a dream! With Sam's cough, she has been up a lot the past few nights, so sleep has been a bit interrupted. Ah well, it is what it is. Overall, I'm still feeling pretty good about the race on Sunday, but we'll see how it goes!

My "A" goal for the race is still to beat Ryan's time from last year, which was 2:13:59 or 8:38 pace. I *feel* like I should be able to do this, but Pineland has a way of being sneaky on race day, so I've decided to set two secondary goals, with which I will also be happy. My "B" goal is 9:00 pace, or 2:19:30. And last but not least, beating my previous time on this course of 2:26 will feel good too. However, I am fully planning on stretching myself a bit out there on the course so that I can take the family Pineland Farms 25k record :-)

And with that, here's a photo from last year's Pineland weekend - wow, Sam has changed! Still cute, though :-)

Ryan and Sam watching the races. Jamie Gemmeti photo.

Evening Run

This is turning into a stressful week. Work is a bit crazy right now. My boss is back in town after being away for most of the year at grad school, but he's only around for three weeks, after which time he heads off to Venice to paint for the month of June. Rough life, huh?! :-) We're working on our first exhibition of the season, which opens this coming Saturday. But we're also trying to get organized for show #2, which opens two days after Keith gets back from Italy. Ryan is busy, and is still getting over being sick. Sam has a wicked cough and is having a rough time of it. My parents are arriving in Maine tomorrow, and are coming to stay with us on Thursday night so that they can watch Sam on Friday, since daycare is closed, Ryan will be away, and I have to be at work early to hang Saturday's show. It is awesome that they are coming to visit and to help us out, but I always feel compelled to have everything neat and clean before anyone comes to visit, and I also really do not want my mom to get sick while she is here because of us, as they are headed to Italy at the end of next week, for a trip they've been dreaming about for years! I also don't want to get sick. And I want to race well, and fast, on Sunday. AIE!

Needless to say, despite all of this, or actually, because of all this, I headed out for a quick 3 mile run after putting Sam down to bed early tonight. I'm typically not at my best on an evening run, but tonight, it felt good to get out and run, in an attempt to outrun the silly thoughts in my head and the stress that had built up in my shoulders. Not to mention, it was warm! And not raining! Hurray :-) Maybe it wasn't such a bad day after all?

Let's Face It...

...it is just not nice out there today. There is no way around it. It is rainy. And 47 degrees. Lovely! But Sam is at daycare today, since they are closed on Friday, which means I have a free day to run and get as much as possible done around the house before my parents arrive later this week to help with Sam on Friday while I work, and then again on Sunday, while Ryan and I run. So, even though it is yuck, yuck, yucky out there, I suited up and headed over to the Commons, well, because I had the time, so why not? Even though I was in tights and long sleeves, I was cold for the first few miles. The wind whipped the rain in my face as I crossed the playing fields and headed into the woods. I wished I had thought to bring gloves!

I had hoped I would see lots of ladyslippers today. After all, it is that time of year, and typically the Commons yield lots of them. But today, although I counted a good number of them (80+, seriously!), only one or two actually had the pink slipper visible. The rest were still little whirls of green, bent over, waiting for some sun and warmth. And yes, while the woods were quite gorgeous with all the lush greenery, and the forest floor was covered with starflowers, wood anemone, bunchberries, lily of the valley, blue bead lilies and false lily of the valley, and the swamp azalea and bright fuscia trailing arbutus stood out in wonderful contrast against the green ferns and leaves, it was rainy and cold and well, just not nice out. I'm trying to have a good attitude about this weather, but seriously, I need some sun! So, who out there can order that up for me? Anyone?! :-)