Frosty morning glow

Winter's breath is sending chills through Boulder Valley. I've had a string of early moring runs to my volunteer job accompanied only by the sound of oh-so-cold squeaking snow beneath my feet. Today, as I made my way through the frosty darkness along the Bear Creek bike path, I discovered that someone had been busy over the weekend: last year's tree decorations have reappeared - a delightful treat brightening the way for us pre-dawn travelers.

Cake artistry

Amber with the cake we made for Kitty's 60th birthday

It's been a while since I've posted (shame on me!); life has just been rolling along, no major hiccups nor whoopdedoos. But things are starting to pick up. Paul is home for winter break (from Thanksgiving week through New Years Day - weehawww!); we've made plane reservations for a Christmas trip to Petoskey (lots faster than running there); we partied on Thanksgiving day with bunches of Millers and extended family; and we just celebrated my sister-in-law Kitty's 60th birthday. Kitty's younger daughter, Amber, and I made a cake to honor the day. I've made a lot of birthday cakes over my years of motherhood, some quite niftily decorated - scorpion, sailing ship, island, Star Trek Enterprise, a bicycle, a guitar, and a really cool working volcano - but, as you can probably deduce, all for boys. This time, a lovely cake and with the help of Amber who actually knows how to do fancy cake decorations. Many hours later, we had our cake - and the next day, our rewards - the question "Are those real flowers?" and the smile on Kitty's face!

First big snow of the season!

The weather folk were pretty sure it was going to snow but waffled on amounts - saying anything from 2 to 18 inches. It turns out the snow started a few hours earlier than expected, tapered off a bit around dawn, then picked up speed mid-day. So far, I'd say we have about a foot at our house and it's still snowing!

As luck would have it, I had a doctor's appointment scheduled today that was located about 5 miles by bike path from my house; luckier still, Boulder does a good job of plowing bike paths during snow storms. So! Off into the fluffy blowing flakes I went! Quite a lovely run actually. The return trip I decided to do as a combo run-bus-run affair which was not nearly as pleasant as the outbound trip. As is usually the case, those big roadside piles of snow turned into rivers of ice, many of which were just too wide to avoid as I made my way to and from the bus. Ah well, plenty of dry socks awaited me once I bounded through the snow banks and into our front door. Sspeaking of bounding, ol' Jester dog may have just celebrated his 12th birthday, but he is still does a fine job of bounding through snow. He's quite certain snow is a whole lot of fun falling from the sky!

The power of the dribble

Mom's doing very well; home from the hospital, thinking straight, moving around, organizing...pretty much back to her old self (except no longer driving). Me...I'm just now coming around.

Mid-week, calming down with mom's return home, I was fighting fatigue from stress, lack of sleep, and a cold. My powers of concentration were zilch. I had a whole bunch of reading to do for class and little ability to focus. I'd sit, open the book, stand, wander around the house, dabble in this and that, sit, stand, dabble. Then I noticed the sunshine streaming in through the window and decided to turn the dabbling into dribbling.

Basketball is a wonderful thing. Outside, bouncing the ball, trotting around the driveway, shooting towards the big blue sky, rebounding, dribbling, trotting, jumping, shooting, dribbling. Extraordinarily soothing. I'm certain it nudged my soul out of the doldrums and into the light of day. Thursday I rejoined my exercise class, reappeared at my CU class and Friday/today I started the day at my old-usual 5:22 a.m., running to my volunteer job, reading newspapers for AINC, and have continued the day with a bounce in my step. Thank you basketball!

A roller coaster I'd like never to ride again

Paula & Elena, July 2009

As is my nightly custom, I called my mom Thursday evening. No answer. Hmmm. Maybe tired from a busy day. We were heading out the door to catch a bus to Denver's Union Station where we were hopping a train to Galesburg, Illinois to visit Paul for his final family weekend at Knox College. I continued trying to call, tried calling neighbors...nobody answering. Hmmm. Maybe the phones are out in the neighborhood. Friday morning, I started calling again. No answer at mom's. Called the neighbors, they answered, went over to mom's house, and discovered no car in the garage and Thursday's mail still in the box. Oh oh. I called the hospital; no record of her there. I called her doctor; he hadn't heard from her in the last day or two. I called her dentist where she had an appointment Thursday morning. Yes, she had been there. But then heard from the friend who mom was supposed to have lunch with Thursday and mom had not shown up. Time to mount a full-out search. I called a high school buddy who started driving the streets of Petoskey and called the police who put out a 3-county bulletin and also started searching the streets, retracing possible routes mom might have taken. And me, my cell phone, and Kendall kept riding the rails to Galesburg.

Got to Galesburg. Happy family weekend Paul and, by the way, Grandma is missing. Checked into our B&B with the cell phone attached to my ear. Took Paul's buddies out for pizza and played with my salad while listening to the welcome distraction of a lively gang of college students. Looked up car rental agencies thinking we would head to Petoskey the next morning. Returned to the B&B, numb from disbelief at the turn of events. 10 p.m., the phone rings. It's the police and mom's been found. In her car, in good shape all things considered (no food or water for 36 hours and pretty darned cold), in a ditch off a two-track road off a country road south of town. The ambulance is taking her to the hospital to get checked out. I call the ER, they let me talk to her. She is talking, she is o.k., she's alive!

Today is Monday. We're back from Galesburg and mom's still in the hospital awaiting test results. The doctors would really like to solve the mystery of how mom got from the dentist's office to that little two-track road with no clue of where or how she was driving. In the meantime, she's got energy back in her voice, she's taking little walks around the hospital, she's cogent, she's got her sense of humor about her, and she's got one very thankful daughter. Whew. Oh, and she turned 89 during this adventure. Who'd've thunk an 89 year old could get into that much mischief.

Autumn musings

One of my routes home takes me by a field with a bunch of apple trees - and one of those trees has the tastiest little apples. I often swing by and grab one for an end-of-run snack. This past week as I came upon the field I discovered five deer with the same idea: apple munchathon time!

Along with apple-laden trees, it's the time of the harvest moon, which means I can run to my volunteer job at 6 in the morning wearing sunglasses even though the sun has yet to peek above the eastern horizon when I leave the house. However, when I get within a couple of miles of work the sunrise is underway - and they have been stellar lately. Perhaps it's the pre-winter low-lying clouds picking up the early rays or the golden-hued grasses reaching to the sky...whatever the reason, the sky above and earth are infused with an amber glow to begin the day.

Just such a sunrise graced my run this morning reminding me of the train ride to Knox College for Family Weekend three years ago. (We're headed there again, on the train, in just a few days.) Kendall and I were just waking up and I looked out the window to see miles and miles of fields nestled under a lifting fog, gently glowing in the rays of the rising sun. I turned to Kendall and said "This is why I want to run across the heartland." It is still those scenes - rustling grasslands, fog-filled river valleys, north woods canopies, sparkling waves - that fill my mind when I think back on the run.

And today? Amber autumn clouds at sunrise, golden aspen leaves drifting through the air, owls hooting from above, and sharing apples with the deer. It's all good.

Sunday sanctuary

The hills are alive with golden aspen and I was itching to get out of town to take a look - and to leave the hubbub of the city behind for at least a few peaceful moments. So I treated myself to my version of Sunday meditations by lacing up my running shoes and heading for the hills...on foot...3000 feet uphill in about 9 miles as I ran most of Sunshine Canyon from Boulder to Gold Hill. With most of the uphill running completed, Kendall and Devon drove up in the van and gave me a lift even further into the mountains where we gazed upon snow-covered peaks and glistening aspen. I must say it feels mighty fine to be fit enough again to simply cruise, breath, and lose myself to the sights and sounds of the world around me.

Shaping up!

The cleaning frenzy is almost complete:
floors mopped, walls scrubbed, windows washed, surfaces dusted, cobwebs vanquished, shelves built in the basement to house the books that started this whole thing, and the dog has even been bathed!
O.K. Paul! You can come home now! ;-)



Speaking of shaping up. It appears my running is also beginning to shape up! This was my 4th consecutive week of high 40s or low to mid-50 miles/week; 4th consecutive week of solid hill repeat workouts (this week was the most I've ever done: 6 each of 90-second hills alternating between a steep and a friggin' steep hill); and 4th consecutive week with a long run over two hours - with two of those runs over 2.5 hours. I'm starting to feel the hints of fitness again. Weeehawww! I've been asked (often) what I'm getting ready for. Bottom line is, I'd like to be able to run as long as I want, whenever I want, wherever I might find myself to be. I do love perambulating tourism. When I was doing my hill repeats this past week I ran into Mark Plaatjes' training group which was also repeating on the "friggin' steep" hill. He commented on my run to Michigan and I said it was the best way to sight-see ever. He allowed as how one could get a pretty darned good view from an airplane. But I must say, I do prefer an up close and personal view!

Summer catch up post - 3 of 3

TV room - with no more bookshelves

After the whirlwind of travel and festivities, it was time to buckle down to business. We've got this domino effect going on in our house that falls something like this:

• Kendall buys a high def TV for the family for Christmas.
• To make room for the new TV, all the bookshelves come down in the TV room; the books are boxed up; the boxes are piled into the guest room.
• We paint the TV room, put up the TV and it all looks so darned good with the newly painted walls that we decide not to put bookshelves back up. (Ah hah! says the astute reader, the guest room is now the boxed up book room.)
• Son Devon returns home to live while he goes for another round of college studies (this time in Communication/radio broadcast at Metro State College of Denver) and he needs that guest room. The books must find a new home.
  
• The only room in the house that can possibly house that many shelves is...the basement. The basement is so full of 34 years of accumulated Paula/Kendall/boys' stuff that it has been reduced down to winding paths through the piles...no floor space, no wall space...pretty much no space at all. The basement must be cleaned out! [Note: this was the first agenda item on my Retirement List...but it somehow got preempted by 1) preparing for that wee run to Michigan and 2) too much nice weather to spend days in the basement and 3) pretty much anything else that came along that wasn't cleaning out the basement.]
  

With the pressure on to get Devon into his own room (he and his stuff is crammed into Paul's room at the moment and Paul is due home for a visit in two weeks), the neighborhood offers up a great incentive: a neighborhood garage sale! So, for the last week, we've been industriously - nay, ruthlessly - going through our piles.

Two mongo garbage barrels of trash, two mongo recycle barrels plus a giant box of recyclables, and a back porch of yard sale stuff, we now have a pretty darned tidy basement ...at least on the scale of VaughanMiller tidiness - which comes nowhere near the Good Housekeeping Martha Stewart scale of tidiness - but we're rather proud of ourselves!

(Porch-full of yard sale stuff -on the left above- makes for rediscovered basement walls & floor -on the right!)

So, if anyone is in the vicinity of the Martin Acres neighborhood of the city of Boulder on August 15th or 16th, do check out the yard sales and make us an offer; we're willing to go very very low!

Summer catch up post - 2 of 3

Millers et al - brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles... the gang's all here!

Following the big dose of Vaughan festivities in early-mid July, we turned around for a Miller extravaganza in honor of Kendall's brother Steve's 60th birthday.
(In the picture to the right, Steve's daughter Amber presents the cake - which is decorated with "1949 Don't Ask" - while Steve's granddaughters Audrey and Kira look on.)




All the siblings were present, most of the kids of the siblings and many of the cousins. Middle brother, Andy, did most of the organizing in hopes that this celebration would take care of all the "60" parties for the brothers. Ha! He and two of his cousins celebrate birthdays within days of eachother (they were known as the triplets when they were little); I see another grand gathering in two years' time!

Brothers/cousins: Andy, Earl, Kendall, Steve, John
(Andy, Earl & John are the "triplets" - and all have the solar foreheads!)

The partying started in Fraser/Winter Park and continued on in the Denver area with a somewhat smaller - yet still boisterous crew. Those Millers sure do know how to have fun!

The next generation - yes, they do know how to have fun!
(Tony, Audrey, Cullen, Kira, Juniper & Sage)

Summer catch up post - 1 of 3

How time flies when summer is swinging! Here's catch-up post #1 (and that's "catch up", not "ketchup" ...I'm a mustard kindo' gal myself... which reminds me of one of my 'quotes of the week' on our family whiteboard: "You can't put a mayonnaise personality into a mustard suit" ...from Unwrapped on the Food Network).

So! Summer since my last post!

That would include our road trip to Michigan by way of Knox College where we visited our son, Paul, who is spending his summer doing one of his very most favorite things: mathematics....specifically, research in cryptography. The boy looks good - and happy. And mom here is going to be even happier when he arrives back in Boulder at the end of the month for a two-week visit before his fall term starts up!

me & frisky mom

After the visit with Paul, we headed up to Petoskey for some quality time with mom, family, friends, and the lake. 'Twas an unusual visit for us in that friends we typically spend lots of time with were way busy (work in the summer...what's that about?!) thus our visiting time was good but short, friends we often don't get to see were actually in town while we were there so we had bonus visits, we were able to catch up with relatives we hadn't seen for a couple of years, and the weather was really quite lovely - lots of sunshine yet not too hot or muggy - but the water, at 50 degrees, was way too cold to swim in. Best of all, my mom's health has significantly improved over the past year so we were able to take her out for quite a few excursions. Northern Michigan is a most excellent get-out-and-about kind of place and we did just that!

Murphey & Vaughan cousins

Yi Lu, me, mom, Aunt Helen,
Dan, Kathleen, Dave

too cold to swim -
but great for hunting Petoskey stones

Summer in full swing

Summer hasn't even been here a full two weeks, but there sure has been a flurry of summer activity!


What with our wet spring, hillsides are loaded with a rainbow of wildflowers making for some positively lovely trail running. Adding to the colorful trail running fun: a never-been-used pair of just-my-size montrails that I found at a yard sale for a mere $20. What a sweet pair of shoes - like running on feathers that glide over rocks and roots.



Adding to this year's summer fun, since we're going to be here in town more than we're going to be gone, we actually resurrected our garden! To top it off, the garden is even producing edibles. Lots of salads so far, with root vegetables on the way. Yummers. However, by my vote, even better than the vegies is this year's cherry crop. Earlier this week, my afternoon progressed as follows: pick a whole bunch of cherries, walk straight into the kitchen, pit the cherries, prepare the crisp, and become thoroughly intoxicated by the smell of hot bubbling fresh-picked cherries. Nothing better!

Alas, not every moment can be spent outdoors - not when one is preparing for their first fiddle recital. Yikes! Many many hours of fiddle practice - and, I'm sure, many many neighbors wishing they had never heard the far-too-often repeated pjv rendition of "Red Haired Boy". If y'all are interested in hearing just how that recital turned out (not perfect, but not a disaster), here's the video our son Devon shot of his fiddling mom, accompanied by our teacher, Mike Marsh. (The first 1:39 is tuning; I recommend you skip that part and head straight for the fiddling.)

Moseying across the country

As you know, if you've read about my run from Colorado to Michigan, I'm a big fan of savoring the miles as one crosses the country. See the sights, enjoy the smells, revel in the fresh air... The thirty-mile-per-day plan was a delightful approach to travel.

Our most recent trip covered the distance a bit more quickly - something like 600 miles per day. Last week we journeyed to Illinois to attend Paul's Phi Beta Kappa induction ceremony and Devon's girlfriend Corinne's graduation (all at Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois). The weekend's festivities culminated with the packing of all of Devon's stuff into our motorhome and moving him back to Colorado where he will be pursuing a degree in speech communication.



On the way back to Colorado, we crossed paths with a group of folks who were taking the leisurely approach to cross-country travel. They had crossed Iowa last summer, are making their way across Nebraska this summer and will travel through Wyoming next summer...20 miles per day via wagon train! They allowed us to drive along with for a mile or so and I ran alongside in order to get the pictures. I suspect I was warmer running than they were sitting on their wagons in the rain...but what a way to travel!

Vaughan stubborn

Our backyard columbines.
We're lousy gardeners, but these hearty flowers burst forth regardless!

The Vaughan stubborn streak is legendary in our family.

It manifested in my dad through his unrelenting quest to finish whatever it is he may have started - be it changing a 6 cylinder Studebaker into a 4 cylinder Studebaker or going after a hole-in-one which he finally accomplished in his 80s (after 70 years of devoted golf playing).

In my case, it's heightened determination to do something after being told I can't. My first memory of this happening was in high school chemistry when the teacher announced that girls in the class should figure on getting a C since no girl had ever done better than that. So, despite not having any fondness for chemistry, I sucked it up and got an A. Another big one was when I was granted only a probationary admittance to grad school despite great test scores. My undergrad college wrote evaluations rather than give out grades so, without enough grade point credits, the grad school was reluctant to give me full admission. Harumph. First semester in, I got a 4.0 and ending up graduating at the top of my class. The most recent occurrence was just last week. A few weeks ago, my fiddle teacher had given me Red Haired Boy to try playing. Last week, he mentioned that our upcoming recital would be held at the end of June. I said, well, how about I play Red Haired Boy for the recital. He hemmed and hawed and said that it was a bit too tricky and we'd best find something else; he'd pick something out during the week. Tonight I showed up for the lesson, opened the book to Red Haired Boy and he said - ah, we were going to find something else for the recital. I replied with, how 'bout I play this for you first. Play I did...and raised some eyebrows. Red Haired Boy will be on the program! Like I said, don't tell me I can't do something!

Fortunately, for the run to Michigan, noone let it be known (to me, at least) that they didn't think I'd make it. There was no room for doubt in that endeavour...the challenge was daunting enough - and, besides, my brain was too full of the vision of running toward the view of Little Traverse Bay to make room for nay-sayers. I was quite amazed to discover afterwards how many of my buddies thought I was nuts to try...and unlikely to succeed. 'Tis a testament to their friendship that they never, ever shared those doubts with me until after the run. Nothing but powerful positive thoughts were sent my way. They do make all the difference!

Mood enhancers

See that smile? That's me after finally getting to go for a run after many many days of a non-running regimen in hopes that my quad would stop squawking at me.

After much PT and way too many days of being good, I got the green light for a 20 minute max run. I set off at a brisk walk for my volunteer job along bike paths and trails with my running start point firmly in mind (roughly half-way). A few blocks after leaving my house, the dirt path paralleling the bike path I was on beckoned. I sez to myself: "it's dirt, it'll be gentle on the leg" so onto the dirt and into a trot I went. Ahhh.... About a third of the way into the run I approached a pedestrian overpass. As I crested the top and looked down the other side I saw another dirt path. My brain begins conversing: "There's some more dirt; should we run it?" one side asks. "Well, sure why not?!" the other side responds. At that point, I broke out laughing. It's darned difficult to have a pros and cons debate when both parties - and every molecule inbetween - are big time jonesing for a run.

So, yes, I ran on the dirt, and then ran from the half-way point on in to the job. A most excellent start to the day!


(NOTE: if you, dear reader, happen to know my mom, please do not share this cranky leg info with her...she tends to become overly worried about her baby girl no matter how trivial the issue.)

Moving slowly; seeing the sights

I'm gimping around with a sore quad these days so have slowed down substantially...all the way down to a walk as a matter of fact. Other than being in a foul temper due to sweat glands not getting a workout, it's not been too bad. One can certainly get a good view of one's surroundings when meandering at a leisurely 3 miles per hour. Sightings of the last week have included

• three turkey vultures and a hawk floating along the thermals (probably waiting for me to drop from 3 mph to 0 mph so I'd be easy pickin's);
• a fox closely guarding its den where, I discovered the next day, at least one kit is being raised;
• a clucking crow;
• tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, and even some pansies popping up...not to mention blossoms about to burst forth on the fruit trees;

But today's sighting takes the prize. Early this past Thursday it started to rain and snow...and did not stop raining and snowing until late Saturday. Supposedly there were 7 inches of snow and who knows how much rain. The streets were rivers, the dips were lakes, and our hay-like lawns now look like the emerald fields of Ireland. There was SO much water, apparently the fish population found new places to explore...this is what I spotted along the sidewalk when walking home from my volunteer job:


Keep your eyes wide open folks, ya' never know what you may see in this wild wonderful world of ours!

Quintessential spring

Spring is in fine form:

• itty bitty ants are roaming the restroom floor at my volunteer job
• dandelions are bursting forth
• chirpy red red robins are bob bob bobbin' all along the trail
  
• and, of course, our weather forecast is calling for highs of 50s today and a foot of snow tonight

Ya' gotta just run with it!

Summer? Winter? Both?! It must be Spring!

Yesterday - southeast Colorado.................................................................Today - our backyard

Yesterday we were in southeast Colorado, camping in high desert, listening to nothing but wind and birds, gazing out over canyons and prairie, stepping over fossil-filled rocks, gazing at pictographs etched in canyon walls, and hiking and running along cactus-studded trails. A wonderful break from the daily routine.

Today we awoke to a bit of snow, and more snow, and more snow yet. Running through the almost knee-high white stuff was quite fun, actually, since we haven't had much of it in Boulder this year...and there was so much on the ground and filling the air that traffic was almost non-existent. (Both the Boulder public schools and the University are closed for spring break this week so the town was quiet to begin with; closing the highway leading into town and shutting down city offices due to the blizzard conditions further contributed to the sleepiness of our burg.) My run was confined to quiet neighborhoods near my house to further reduce car/ped confrontations so I zigged and zagged, occasionally running along car tracks, occasionally breaking trail. By the time I returned home, I could barely see the tracks I had left when I first started out on my run. And, boy, was it fun to dash in the house and give my husband a great big frosty hug!

Yesterday, cacti. Today, snow drifts. Weather sure does liven things up!

The First Day of Spring

I must confess, I am quite fond of the first day of spring. Rejuvenation abounds. And...it's my birthday!

Each year I thank my mom for giving me such a glorious birthday day. Even the blizzardy years. Or the gray years. Or, like today, the years when spring fills the air.




The first day of spring of 2009 has been mighty fine.
Not only has the day been filled with running, and yummy eating, and driveway basketball with my son, and flowers blooming, and vultures hovering overhead (o.k., that was a bit odd) - but also...bonus!
Kendall's school had a concert today to celebrate the completion of their readathon. Paul and I meandered over to listen in - and, I gotta tell ya', put my husband up on a stage and hand him a microphone and he can really belt out a tune! The guy is a rock star! Now that is one fine way to celebrate a birthday!

A fine way to spend an almost spring day

Blue sky, sunshine, hill drills done, exercise class complete, editing finished, now home with the spring break college boy and a basketball. It just doesn't get much better than this!

Fun in the mountains

The view from our cabins

We spent the weekend at a YMCA camp in Estes Park, just outside Rocky Mountain National Park, helping a friend celebrate his 60th birthday. Lots of friends, family, fidos, fresh air, fantastic views, foraging elk...a whole lot of festive fun all the way around. It made me realize just how refreshing a change of scenery and laid-back time with friends can be. Barely 24 hours away from home, and only 30 miles from Boulder, yet the cobwebs are clear and the energy stores are rejuvenated. I definitely must get out of town and away from the daily humdrum more often!

How the elk spend their Sunday mornings

Bicycle cake that I made for the birthday boy - and bicycle cake all lit up with 60 candles!

Revving up

Joe, AndyE and cow families under the moon at Teller Farms

Another grand day of running here. Blue sky, almost full moon, frisky calves - plenty to keep our minds off the way chilly temperature - tho' it didn't stop the whining ;-)

During the run, AndyE, Joe and I concocted a semblance of a training plan for the spring. It was astoundingly difficult to find two weekday time slots where we three retirees are all available for a bit of quality running. What's up with that, eh? In any case, we now have got a Tuesday afternoon slot for tempo running and a Thursday morning time for hill repeats. We'll whip ourselves into shape yet!

Daylight Savings Time Distractions

Full moon over darkened Flatirons

I've been grumbling a bit this week about the switch to daylight savings time, having become happily accustomed to light and warmth on my early morning runs. Since the switch

• Monday morning I ran by AndyE's house, met up with him (although I didn't even see him until he was right at my shoulder it was so darned dark), and we had a very non-chatty run together to my volunteer job...undoubtedly at a loss for words cuz our bodies were in shock from the cold and dark.
• Tuesday morning, after a night of light snow, the streets were so icy that running was darned near impossible. So I delayed my run until the sun had a chance to do its magic. The streets did, indeed, clear - but the wind picked up as well so it was hill repeats accompanied by, yes, sunshine, but also 40+ mph gusts.
• This morning I started out once again in the dark...but no grumbling nope! nope! A bright full moon guided my way as it slowly dropped behind the mountains, vanishing just as the eastern horizon began to lighten. And as I wound my way east and north I heard the hoot of an owl. Just ahead of me high in a tree was the owl sitting watchful as a distant hoot carried through the air towards us. I stopped and listened as the hoots drifted back and forth while the sunrise continued to brighten the sky. A lovely morning run...and all because of that bothersome daylight savings time!

A hint of spring

Signs of impending spring abound:

• Crocuses are popping out all over
• Students in my CU class are chatty and happily restless
• Shorts are out of storage and on my bod as I run to my volunteer job at 6 a.m.
• Geese are pairing up
• Skateboards abound
• Gardens are being dug
• The TA for my class was sporting a sunburned neck today
• Frisbees are flying
• Everybody is smiling as they strut out of doors
• ...and, personally, energy levels - and miles run - are up!

It's definitely time to wrap up the indoor work and move operations outside. WEEEHAWWW!

Study nook

The exhibit that was watching over me as I studied today

I'm taking a CU class this semester as a "Senior Auditor." It's a pretty sweet deal; dues-paying alumni over age 55 can take classes for $10. The class I chose for this semester's learnin' is The History of Words. It's quite the plunge into Latin, Greek, and linguistics. I've no background in any of these topics, so a lot of study time is involved. I have found I'm a much better studier if I get myself out of the house to do the readings so I've spent the semester exploring the campus, the public library, coffee shops, etc. for suitable study nooks.

I much prefer study spaces with a view or some sort of interesting diversion - even if I'm not allowing myself to be completely diverted. The Boulder Public Library offers a nice setting if you can find an empty chair near a window overlooking the Boulder Creek. The second floor of the student union on campus provides pretty good people watching - but people outnumber chairs there so there is often no seat to be had.

It is very windy in Boulder today so I went looking for a study nook on campus fairly near my classroom building. Today was my lucky day! I had read that the CU museum had set up a lounge in one of their exhibit areas so I checked it out. Lots of comfy seating, interesting exhibits throughout - and free coffee and tea! Two hours later with my homework done, coffee craving satiated, and mind refreshed, I was off to class. The BioLounge, as they call it, will definitely be seeing a lot of me this semester!

The day I became a mom

Devon Andrew VaughanMiller, the one who bestowed upon me the honored title of "Mom" on this day 24 years ago.
The fella whose presence brings a light within me that glows from the tips of my toes to the frizzes of my hair.
The first of the VaughanMillers and who welcomed his little brother, the second VaughanMiller, as his new, and life-long, best friend.
The little tyke who would strike up a conversation with anybody about anything because he just so loved the new and different.
The young man who said this a week before my run to Michigan was to begin: "I believe in you, mom. You can somehow always believe in me, especially when I don't, now it is my turn to push you. ... You can do this. I know it, because you're a Vaughan, and, more importantly, my mom!"

Well, Devon, I have always and will always believe in you. You have a heart of gold and a soul of sunshine. Spread it 'round the world this new year!

Happy Birthday Devon!

Daydreaming on the run

Of vistas and daydreams on the run - January 21, 2009

Today's run was a basic commute to and from my volunteer job. The trip in before the sun was up was quite dark. Have you ever noticed that some days dark is really really dark? Well, today was one of those days, so rather than run the unlit bike paths, I moved over to the roads. Then I got tired of the cars (funny how they hang around roads) so I zigzagged into and through a neighborhood that wasn't quite as dark as the bike paths and not quite as busy as some roads. With the quiet, came a peacefulness that encouraged daydreaming. 'Twas a good morning for daydreaming. We have a new president, a president whom I believe is truly for the people, by the people, and of the people. Now it is time for us people to take some our dreams, work with our president, and do!

Running back home after volunteering, I stayed with the bike paths and trails. Both the vista and the quiet were soothing and again fostered daydreams. I've just started corresponding with a running acquaintance who is interested in a long run, specifically a north/south run along the east coast of the US...currently envisioned as a Maine-to-Miami run. We would do it in segments, beginning in 2010 and finishing in 2012 - the year we both turn 60. As I trotted towards home, along a trail through a field, I heard crackling noises - and realized I was hearing the ground awaken. Our third consecutive balmy day was bringing out insects and sprouts and who knows what all else. It is for those moments, the moments of being able to hear the earth burst forth with life, that makes me think that the daydream of another long run should become reality.

New quote

I read this bumper sticker quote on a listserv I belong to. It makes me feel even more comfortable in my non-conformist mind and body!

Don't worry, the rest of the world has "normal" covered.

A good reminder that I should just keep on cruising down my own pjv path!

A new goal!

Fiddle wood carving seen on the run in Boulder

The National Western Stock Show is in full swing in Denver. It's quite the event: lots of cows, chickens, rabbits, rodeo-ing, dog running, artwork, cowboy hats, boots, belt buckles...you name it... If it's American West, it's there.

I hadn't been to the show since our boys were little but went this year for a whole new thing for me: the Colorado Fiddle Championships. It was fantastic - fiddlers from 8 to 80+; all mighty fine.

My new goal? To participate in the 2013 Fiddle Championships (when I'm 60). Maybe, just maybe, if I practice every day from now until then, I'll actually be good enough to compete. We shall see!