What's Next?: Week #12 of Life at Home in the Midst of a Pandemic

It seems the world is going mad.

Atop this global pandemic, we have violence against those whose skin is a different color, which frankly we all know has been going on for centuries, there is looting and rioting and protesting in the streets, there is a call for understanding, empathy, change amongst many, and in the middle of it all, a president who is not acting presidential at all, more like a big baby.

My head hurts when I think of this all. And while this systematic violence and oppression is not new, I think the larger response to it right now might actually be something that can sustain change. And by all means, remember all of this, his response to the pandemic, his response to police violence, his lack of clarity and empathy and any sort of ability to act for anyone other than himself and let's get the f*in idiot who currently resides in the White House out of the way in November. No, it won't erase what's happened, but we need someone who actually CARES leading this country and uniting us, not someone divisive tearing us apart even further.

Monday: Up early for a run on the cart paths and around the Heath. Only 39 degrees - brrr! - so back to long sleeves, capris and light gloves for me! Glorious morning though, crisp and clear. Two deer, one ladyslipper, two goldfinch, a long line of raccoon tracks, and first swamp iris of the season seen. (7.0 miles)

Wild cala lily blooming at the edge of the Heath

Worked at home for the day and then around 3:30, Sam and I headed outside to get all the plants we had purchased at Moose Crossing on Sunday into the ground. Took a while, as of course, we purchased more than intended 😂 but we got everything potted and in the garden beds, and look forward to watching them all grow and bloom! A good outside project for the afternoon!

Tuesday: No running, worked all day, came home and got out for a late afternoon walk with Sam. Always good to walk and talk with the kiddo 💗 Saw a number of big frogs in the small wet areas along one of the paths off the powerlines that I don't run often but which is nice to walk on. (2.0 miles walked)

Wednesday: Up and out early. Dark, overcast and humid. 100% humidity but not raining = so sweaty! Saw five deer, one groundhog and a whole mess of prints in the clay along the river bank. Always good to get out on the trails but the legs felt heavy today. (7.0 miles)

Came home to find the first iris blooming out front. Even in the darkest of times, nature has the ability to brighten my day. Does the heart good to watch things bloom and grow 💗

Later in the afternoon, the three of us headed over to the middle school so Sam could get in some biking practice. It was quiet over there, and unlike the high school lot, there were some good long straightaways she could loop around. She is definitely a nervous rider, but making really good progress considering she had not successfully ridden a bike until 2 weeks ago!

After a bit of riding, we headed out on a walk from the school, looping up through the woods. Lots of blackflies and mosquitos out, and very dark skies, although we did not get rained on. Found one clump of ladyslipper growing on a moss-covered rock. Neat. (1.4 miles walked)

Thursday: I just did not feel up for running this morning. Meh. So I went back to bed instead. But it truly was a beautiful day out, and I am grateful that I could stop work at 4:00 pm and walk across the street with the kiddo to access quiet trails and powerlines for a nice wander. Saw a number of frogs again in the same spot as Monday, plus a ladyslipper blooming, and four cedar waxwings sitting on the telephone wires along the powerlines. Wish I had been able to get a photo of them. Such fun, distinctive birds! And of course, as always, nature and movement have a wonderful way of picking up my spirits. 💗(2.0 miles walked)

Friday: Headed over to the field house and ran out through the Commons to Simpson's Point. Hazy, humid, heavy morning, but some glorious wildflowers - 200+ ladyslippers, swamp iris, lupine, rhododendron - plus bobolinks, red winged blackbirds, swallows and tufted titmice seen, and of course, as always, a beautiful ocean view out at the point. Such a pretty time of year. (10.0 miles)

Dame's rocket

After my run, I headed to the farmer's market and the grocery store and then home to clean and do my typical Friday household chores. Then, in what felt like a great way to kick off summer, we headed to Harpswell for an appropriately socially distanced (well, the adults at least 😉), outside afternoon and evening spent in the pool, along the water, around the fire, eating lobsters, watching fireworks, chatting and enjoying time together with good friends. Sam had a blast with Anne and Thistle, and we are so grateful to have been able to spend time out in the fresh air, safely, together. It really was wonderful. 💗

Best friends 💖

Enjoying the fireworks 😊

Lots of hermit crabs and green crabs in this cool tide pool!

Strawberry moon! So pretty!

Saturday: Didn't get home until late on Friday night - although it was well worth it! - so I was not super quick to rise on Saturday morning, and pretty much nixed the long run idea right away, especially after looking at the weather and seeing 100% humidity. Still, wanted to at least get in 10 miles, so after dilly dallying around for a bit, I finally headed out around 8:00 am. Overcast and super humid - so sweaty!! - and then when the sun came out in the final few miles, it turned super steamy. I came home soaked. Ran out on the powerlines, did a loop on the Foreside and Riverside trails and then out to the Gone Fishing mountain bike trails. Saw a group of a dozen goldfinch accompanied by an indigo bunting 😍 out in the grasses along the powerlines, spotted a few ladyslippers and swamp iris blooming, saw one Swallowtail butterfly, and enjoyed the sweet scent of the hay scented ferns as I ran along. (10.0 miles)

The plan was to get Sam out for a short bike ride and then go for a hike in the later afternoon, but the skies opened up around 1:30 and sheets of rain fell from the sky. Crazy heavy rain, seriously! So, scratch that bike ride! But once the rain stopped, we didn't want to give up entirely on our afternoon plans so we suited up and headed down to Harpswell to continue our quest to hike all the Harpswell Heritage Land Trust trails. We had noticed that there were two preserves right across the street from each other along Rt. 123, both with short trail systems, so it seemed like they would be perfect to combine into one hike. We started with the Widgeon Cove Trail, a nice loop through the woods out along Widgeon Cove. Pretty ocean views, and some nice patches of hay scented ferns and false lily of the valley to hike through - smelled so good! It was still quite humid despite the rain storm and with no air movement, the mosquitos were definitely out! Still, a lovely little loop.

Blue-eyed grass

Twinflower

Widgeon Cove

Then it was across the street for a short 1/2 mile out and back to Wilson Cove. Once again, out through some pretty woods to a lovely view, this time on the opposite side of the street and looking back towards Pennelville and Middle Bay. Some huge indian wild cucumber, bunchberry and one lone ladyslipper seen in the woods. (1.6 miles hiked total between the two trails)

Wilson Cove vista

It was such a short hike that we decided to hit one more preserve before heading back home. This time it was the Hackett & Minot trails, which started at the Harpswell Historical Gardens. Pretty little garden followed up by a nice woodland meander. Beautiful mossy woods, with some nice ladyslipper patches and a whole lot of mosquitos! (1.2 miles hiked)

Sunday: More rain in the evening on Saturday, but it did nothing for the humidity, although it was at least cooler and breezy when I got out around 6:00 am Sunday morning. Ran a road loop around town. Some lovely Dame's Rocket blooming along the paved path along the Androscoggin and the smell of honeysuckle in the air. Legs, in concert with the air, felt heavy. (6.0 miles)

Honestly, I hadn't slept well, it was overcast and humid, and I wasn't feel all that enthused about our plan for heading up to Camden to hike, not because I didn't think it would be great once we got going, but just because sometimes it's nice to just sit around - ha! Gotta love inertia! But we got Sam up and were out of the house by 9:00 am and on the road. Fairly quiet drive, with a lot of beautiful blooming lupine along the roadside.

We parked in the lowest of the lots along the auto road once past the gate house, and headed up the trail to Mt. Battie. Pretty, dense wood, with a lot of bunchberries, blue bead lilies, false lily of the valley and some ladyslippers blooming on the way up. Despite the clouds, it was a high ceiling and we had some great views once we reached the top.

Mt. Battie

Then we took the auto road back down to the trail, and then up the Tablelands Trail to Ocean Lookout. Some steep, rocky sections through there, but Sam did great!