Colors and Textures

I was up and out the door at 6:45 am this morning, and headed across the street for an out-and-back 5+ mile run. As I crested the first hill on the powerlines I had a view of the sunrise, the brilliant pinks and oranges low on the horizon beneath a thick bank of clouds. As I continued on, the pretty colors disappeared, and I was left with the flat light of an overcast November day for the rest of the run. The drab colors of late fall, with the leaves gone from the trees and bushes, were interrupted now and again however by shouts of flashy color from the bright red winterberry bushes. With the past few days of cold weather, the puddles and areas of water along the trail were glazed with ice.

The terrain beneath my feet ranged from pavement and gravel or rock to loose sand, churned soft by the ATVs. In spots I was tromping through sand with a hard surface, others on frozen mud and waterlogged ground marked by ATV and dirt bike treads. Hoar frost, 2" deep in places, crunched beneath my feet. Frosted grass made for a nice surface.

Despite the fact that I often feel out in the middle of nowhere as I run along the powerlines, they are in fact lined with houses, hidden behind trees. But this morning it was quiet, and I had all the colors and textures to myself.