Monday, May 31, 2021

In Bloom

Monday afternoon was a swim practice walk on the streets of Bath. Bright and sunny but cooler and with less humidity, which meant I was fairly comfortable, even in pants and a sweatshirt. Nice to move for a bit at the end of the day! (2.0 miles)

Tuesday afternoon, I snuck in a run between the regular workday and an evening board meeting. Blustery with the wind whipping up the dust and pollen, but otherwise a nice afternoon. The forest is greening up nicely but we could definitely use some rain! (6.1 miles)



Wednesday morning I got up and out on the cart paths for a run. Felt a bit flat, but it was a gorgeous morning to be out. One deer seen. (6.0 miles)
 

Came home to find the iris out front starting to bloom 😍


Thursday was a rough work day. We found out that one of our longtime board members and her husband had been killed in a car accident on Wednesday afternoon. It was a direct impact and they were dead on the scene. Wow. I had worked with Judy for 8 years, and know she was a wonderful woman doing so much for the community. I recognize fully that we are all going to die of something, and have no illusions that a really long life is the best thing; a prolonged illness or disease is often incredibly painful and can cause sorrow for so many. However, just the fact that they were gone in an instant, during the course of their day, things unsaid, tasks unfinished, mundane things half complete, wow, it was jarring and unsettling and just so sad to think about. Whew. I think we were all in a bit of a fog for the day. 

Needless to say, I was a bit emotionally drained and even though I had made plans to meet Val over at Brad on Friday, I almost ended up just bagging the whole thing, but I'm so glad I didn't! It was a beautiful morning, crisp and cool, felt so nice after the recent heat and humidity! Ended up running into Bill in the parking lot and joining him on the start of his run for 3.5 miles. It was great to see him and to have a chance to catch up! Once he headed of for the rest of his miles, I did another few minutes solo out and back on Northern Loop, enjoying the patch of lily of the valley and seeing a few ladyslippers, before joining up with Val, who had new runner Dana with her. Val led us on a nice loop on the east side, and we chatted the whole way. Felt good, and so nice to run with friends! 💗 (10.7 miles)



Got a few things done around town and at home after lunch and then, while Sam was at swim practice, took a nice walk around Bath. So much in bloom! 🌸(2.0 miles)


Rain started overnight on Friday. Now, I know we need the rain, but all weekend long? And with temps down to the low 40s on Saturday morning? Gah. Needless to say, I did not rush out for my run 😂 Brr. Suited up in tights, raincoat and gloves, I finally headed out around 9:15 and ran a loop out in the Cathance. It was cold, rainy and windy. Funny enough, I didn't see anyone else out there 😉 (7.2 miles)



The rain stopped before noon and while the sky cleared a bit, it was still damp and cool. Still, it was supposed to be the best afternoon of the long weekend, so we donned warm clothes and headed over to the Commons for our annual ladyslipper count. It is amazing how many there are hidden out in the woods, and how many we were able to find with 5 sets of eyes looking! Sam was our official counter, and we had our highest count yet - 1,107! 😍 Of those, three were true white flowers, and there were many different shades of pink. Saw a few patches of rhodora, bunchberry and starflowers as well, but the ladyslippers were the stars of the walk, for sure! (2.3 miles walked)




😂








The rain held off until Sunday afternoon to start back up again, so the morning was a dry, but weirdly both cold and humid morning for a powerlines run. Numerous towhees, catbirds, one cardinal pair and a hairy woodpecker. A few nice patches of bunchberry and the sheep laurel is starting to bloom! (7.0 miles)





Later in the afternoon, we headed down to Harpswell to have dinner with Anne and family and to drop Sam off for a sleepover. Despite the nasty weather, it was fun to hang out, and the girls even got in the pool. Crazy kids swimming in the rain 😂 And I think we are all happy that Monday is a holiday so that means the weekend is not quite over yet 😀


And just for fun, while this didn't last long, it was cute 😻



No comments: