Late May

Beautiful week this week! It is getting green out there 🍃

Monday, Ryan and I got out for a late afternoon walk around the school block just for a bit of movement. (1.7 miles walked)

And then Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, I actually made it out of the house in the mornings for some early morning running! Woohoo. Honestly, I just haven't had this happen in so long that I'll take it as a win! 🎉Tuesday, I got out at 5:30 am for a run on the cart paths. Pretty morning, and nice and cool. (6.0 miles)

Wild sarsaparilla are in bloom!

Another beautiful cool and bright morning on Wednesday morning. Headed out on the powerlines for a nice loop. The air smelled of hay scented ferns and lilacs, with the sound of catbirds and towhees calling. I don't normally see ladyslippers along the powerlines so was thrilled to find two of them in a slightly shaded spot. (7.0 miles)

Friday, I met up with Anne, Val and Mindy for a run at Brad. We met at Lawrence Road and headed out on the connector, looping back on the powerlines and the Royal River trail before tacking on a small loop up at the quarry on Tryon. It was a beautiful morning and so nice to catch up with everyone for a run! It had been a while. 

The powerlines started out nice and mowed, it became a tick haven and we EACH found 15-20 dog ticks on us. Ewww! So gross! I would most definitely not recommend heading out that way for a while. It was nasty! We even stopped and all took off our shoes at Elmwood Road to get rid of the remaining creepy crawlies, but despite that, I still found one climbing up the back of my leg as we ran along the road up to the Royal River trailhead. 😱😱

On the plus side, we saw a very tiny smooth green snake at the edge of the trail as we started our run along with an adorable toad the size of my thumbnail, along with several ladyslippers out along the corridor along with some blooming indian wild cucumber and a lovely carpet of starflower and false lily of the valley, and then on our short jaunt up to Tryon, we saw dozens of ladyslippers but the mosquitos were too bad to stop and take photos! (5.25 miles)

Cute green snake

Indian wild cucumber

Hi cutie!

Cinnamon ferns along the brook

Came home and showered right away, and then did a bit of cleaning and household chores before taking Sam up to the Y for swim practice. It was too nice of an afternoon to sit inside, so I took a walk before watching the second half of practice. The smell of honeysuckle and lilac permeated the air. So lovely. (2.0 miles walked)

Saturday morning, I had a mellow morning and waited for the showers to abate before heading out around 8:00 am for my run. Ran out on the powerlines and then finished up and over Mt. A. Very muggy and humid, and I was definitely soaked by the end. Ladyslippers, bluebead lilies, starflowers, the first few painted trillium of the season, bunchberry and false lily of the valley seen. So much beauty on the forest floor. A few oak gall on the ground too. Plus the sweet scent of hay scented ferns and the chokeberry bushes in bloom and abundant birdsong in the air. It truly is a wonderful time of year to be outside and to be amazed by the resilience and beauty of nature. (10.0 miles)

So much chokeberry and such a sweet smell

Oak gall

Blue bead lily

Although the rest of the day turned out to be nicer than forecast, we stuck with our plan of a mellow afternoon anyway, which was kind of nice.

Sunday morning, I headed out at 7:00 am for my long run. Looped around town, running into the Highlands to get onto the trail system there for a short bit and then made my way over to the short trail along the Androscoggin before continuing via roads up to Homeplace and getting on the powerlines there, hitting some Gone Fishing trails out that way too. Then via the back road up to the Cathance and out to Head of Tides, before looping back on the roads to the powerlines and finishing up with a few miles around the schools and neighborhood. A fair amount of road but fun to mix in all the different trails systems enroute. Beautiful morning. One great blue heron, two turtles, and fish jumping at the bottom of the dam at Head of Tides. Plus a multitude of late spring/early summer flowers and the smell of hay scented ferns and lilacs in the air. Felt fairly decent although I did have to bargain with myself several times to keep going 😂 First 20 miler since Hamsterwheel! (20.0 miles)

Along the Andro

Dame's rocket

Carpet of lily of valley in the woods out at Head of Tides

Then it was home to relax on the couch for a bit, under the watchful eye of Gigi 😹 before we headed out to the coast to spend the afternoon and early evening with the Dostie's at the Point.

It was a very breezy but beautiful afternoon to be outside. Abby came out with us, and Kristen's friends Lindsey and Nick came out with their kids, and there was much laughter, time in the water for the kids, and fun chatting and eating and drinking together. Always great to get to visit! Thanks for the invite, guys!

Phil making waves in the pool

Always enjoy the view

Rose rugosa in bloom

The kids had a blast together!

These kids💗

And not to be outdone by the flowers seen in the wild, the garden is looking lovely right now too. Scenes from this week:

Salomon's Seal

Beautiful columbine

Foam flower

Iris before the bloom...

...and by the next morning, it had opened!

All.The.Flowers

Everything is in bloom. It truly is a wonderful time of year. Except for all the pollen and sneezing and itchy eyes 😂But seriously, I do so love when the forest floor and gardens comes alive and all of the sudden everywhere you look things are in bloom and greening up. 

Monday was a swim walk. Lots of lilacs in bloom along my route around Bath. So pretty and smelled so sweet. (2.0 miles walked)

Not sleeping great, so Tuesday was an afternoon run. Beautiful and breezy afternoon for a lollygag down to the river and back. The starflowers are in bloom, and the rhodora is a riot of glorious color out in the Heath and the low lying areas along the powerlines. (6.0 miles)

Incredibly blustery on Wednesday morning so I stuck to the trails for a bit more protection. Headed out about 6:10 and ran the standard powerlines lollypop. Many white flowers seen en route today - starflowers, blueberry bells, bluets, bunchberry and whatever the extra species of chokeberry/serviceberry that blooms amongst the blueberry bushes and grasses along the powerlines. Saw four towhees, which is always fun, although this year we've had one pecking away out back at the seed at the edge of the woods! Also, allergies are flaring up with itchy eyes and runny nose. Ah, spring! (7.0 miles)

A rather dreary, overcast, damp, chilly morning on Friday and I realized I was probably going to be kicking myself on Sunday morning for not getting my long run in, I just did not feel like it. So, I didn't 😉😂 Instead I headed out through the Commons to enjoy all the flowers. Starflowers, bluets, violets, a few remaining goldthreads, some lovely patches of fringed polygala, rhodora and ladyslippers out in the Commons, plus blooming apple trees, lilacs, rhododendron and some still remaining daffodils out in Coleman Farm. Only one ladyslipper was in full bloom and was truly pink; the rest were whitish-green and much harder to see on the run! Still, I managed to count 57. I'll just have to head back there next weekend to see how many more I can spot! The Bobolink were calling out in the Pennelville fields as were the phoebes and white throated sparrows in the woods, plus had a cute little hooded warbler flit by too! (8.0 miles)

Ryan headed to Chalk Pond on Friday morning for the weekend, to help Neal put in the dock, and as it turns out, put up a big fence on one side of the yard, so I got some things done on the to do list in the afternoon and then ensured that Sam and Lily, who had walked home from school together, got a bit of food into them before getting dressed to head to the 7th grade dance. It was cute to see them together, getting all dressed in their dresses and chucks. Very stylish😍😎 

Mom, will you stop taking photos, please?! 😂

💃😍

It ended up being a late night with the dance ending at 8:00, and then I didn't sleep well, but I did manage to get myself out of bed early on Saturday morning to squeeze in a few miles before picking Mom up at 7:15 to head south to Faith's funeral. A light mist was falling, and I had just enough time for a quick lap around the Highland Green block. (6.0 miles)

I had talked to Andy on Wednesday night and heard the news that his mom had passed the weekend before. She had had a lot of health issues later in life, but I remember enjoying spending time at their house in and after college, eating her yummy Italian food and always marveling at the Christmas village display she set up in the house around the holidays. She was lucky enough to be lucid at the end and be able to spend her last few days in the hospital surrounded by family and friends, but of course, it is still sad, and I knew Andy was hurting. He was one of the first people I met at Bowdoin and remains one of my very best friends. I knew, of course, I had to make it to Faith's funeral. Having always had a soft spot for Andy, Mom decided to accompany me, and with Ryan in NH, Dad agreed to hang with Sam for the day.

Driving through the city is most definitely not one of my favorite things to do, and even on Saturday morning, there was a fair amount of traffic. A stop at DD for another coffee was most definitely needed. 

The service was lovely, and even in the midst of the full Catholic mass, there was some wonderful levity in the remembrances of Faith. Grateful to have been able to be there to see Andy and his family, and to remember Faith along with them. Mom and I stopped in briefly at the reception and then headed back out, but not before a photo! Although it was sad circumstances that brought together our meeting this time around, it was so nice to be able to see Andy and catch up with him for a short bit 💗 And many thanks for Mom to joining me!

I was pretty much wiped by the time we got home, and Sam was still tired out too, so it was a dinner of yummy vietnamese take-out and then early to bed for both of us!

My plan was to get up early this morning and head out for my long run, returning in time for Anne to come over at 11:00. However, after getting up to feed the cats at 5:00, I got back into bed for what I intended to be another 30 minutes and then didn't get up until 7:30! Oops. So much for that long run. I guess I needed the sleep though, so I'm not too upset about it. I'll just call it a down week, and get in the 20 miler next weekend 😉😆 And of course, as anyone who has followed along on my running journey knows, I am nothing if not a master at modifying the plan. 😂😂 Headed out around 8:45 onto the powerlines. Incredibly muggy out with 100% humidity. So sweaty! 💦 Many dewy spiderwebs seen, a few towhees calling, rhodora and jack in the pulpit too. And looks like it will be a good blueberry year - the blueberry bells are out in full force and looking lovely! (8.1 miles)

After lunch, Anne, Sam and I picked up Abby and walked down to DQ. It was a warm and sunny afternoon - perfect for ice cream! 😋🍦 (2.0 miles walked)

And then there was one more short walk for the afternoon. The girls rode their bikes and I walked to get Anne over to her field hockey practice at the new high school track field. And now it is time to relax! (1.6 miles walked)