Things I see when I run

Topic: Life| 1 Comment »

My most used running loop is five miles from my door, around a few trails and back.  It’s a good loop all the way around with the exception of this one area near Ehrbacher canyon.  At least 2/3 of the time I run through here I see bear prints in the dirt.  Since I usually run in the morning, the tracks are nice and crisp on the edges which is just super.

Seeing one of those is not nearly as reassuring as you might think.  It’s actually not very cool at all.  Though, either way its better than seeing one of these snake dens.  Please note I didn’t take either of these, my heart would not have stood long against such fear as this inspires.

Yellow snow

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I feel the need to apologize to my cat for thinking violent thoughts about it. A week or more (?) ago, after cleaning the litter box out, my wife, Sita, put the old litter into a trash bag and tied it up. Good to go so far. At this point she inexplicably chose to put that tied up trash bag into the garbage can near my desk instead of taking it to the garbage can out in the garage. Not good to go.

Being a typically male lazy slob, I haven’t emptied that trash for awhile and I guess the stink just grew each day until it reached my nose and started driving me nuts. I just emptied the trash, and voila stink is gone. So, all due apologies to my cat, though now I wonder if Sita leaving that cat litter in my trash was on purpose to drive me to take out the trash? I think she could have asked in a nicer way, personally.

Anyway, I heard from my old Marine Corps buddy Andy Canfield (such a great name, so easily modified into dozens of nicks we used to have for him - Cannedgoods, Cornbread, Cornhole, Cannedfood, PeachesandCream, and now Corndaddy). I remember one time when I went up to Oregon and stopped by Andy’s house (it’s strange calling him Andy, even now - 6 years after getting out) and he had a pair of snowshoes. I think they were Atlas something or others, and he was quite excited about them. I remember thinking WTF would you want to go out into a place where you need special shoes to walk around in.

Now, 3 years after seeing that, the seed he planted has grown to fruition. This year all I want to do is get out into the snow, either on a board, on snowshoes (suggestions on brands anyone) or on good old pair of boots.

Andy was a man ahead of his time.