New trail - Yay!

What with all the long-lingering ice and snow, my collection of running routes has been somewhat restricted of late and, frankly, has become rather boring. So! Today I tried something new!

First, I ran from home to the Boulder bus station (along an oft' frequented route, but to start a new adventure so it had some thrill associated with it). There I caught a bus to the neighboring town of Longmont (arriving at the bus station with an entire 60 seconds to spare before the hourly bus left ... adding to the thrill of the day).

Once in Longmont, I ran north from the bus stop wandering through unfamiliar neighborhoods until I found the marker for the St. Vrain Greenway trail - a trail I had read about but had never run on. What a delight! It's a concrete bike path (beautifully plowed) with a dirt path alongside (still snow-covered) that runs right along the banks of the St. Vrain River for 7+ miles. I saw no other humans once I set out along the trail - just water birds, raptors, chattering prairie dogs, river water running over and through ice formations, ice-covered ponds - one pond with a fox carrying his breakfast across the frosty surface (look closely at the photo below).


I tell ya', there's nothing quite like a new trail to brighten up the psyche!

Wintry winter

Little Traverse Bay, first day of winter 2009

While we were in Petoskey there was no doubt it was winter. Snow, ice, cold, wind, long winter shadows. No sense in complaining about it...it is winter in northern Michigan after all! Bundle up, lace up the shoes, and enjoy a brisk run in a winter wonderland!

Upon our return to Boulder, I must confess I was a tad disappointed to discover that the snow we left behind when we headed east was still here - plus some. Rather unusual for Boulder where the sun typically works its magic quickly and melts away the white stuff. Since our return, the weather gods have continued to pile on the frosty flakes and wrap us in a deep freeze. Running routes have been modified, warmest clothes have been worn and washed repeatedly, yaktrax came out of their box for the first time. Again, though, no point in complaining...it's still winter just being winter. The big difference between Colorado and Michigan winters? The Colorado sky! Even when the temperatures are in the teens and snow covers every surface, Colorado's blue sky and sunshine warms the cockles and brings out the grins.

Frosty flatirons from CU cross-country property, Boulder, January 8, 2010

A fine wrap-up to 2009; ready for 2010

We took the plunge and trundled everybody to Denver International Airport during the height of the holiday rush, winged our way to Detroit, hopped in a rental car, drove 5 hours north, and entered the holiday wonderland of Elena Vaughan's Petoskey abode at Christmas time. Mom was delighted to see us and we were delighted to be there. 'Twas the best present we could have given eachother.

Mom, her new sweatsuit, and giggling grandsons

Nine days later we headed "down below" and had a delightful visit with Murphey cousins in Ann Arbor. After that, it was back to the airport (and a much longer security line), a return to home-sweet-home where we then had a whirlwind of festivities including Miller Christmas with bunches of Kendall's family and extended family, New Years Eve with friends Mort & Lysa, and New Years Day lunch with Devon's girlfriend's family who were heading back to Kansas City after a ski vacation.

Life has settled down a bit since New Years. Boulder is deep in winter weather, Kendall is back to teaching, Paul has returned to his studies at Knox, Devon is enjoying the tail-end of his winter break, the CU Women's Basketball team is off to an exciting start to the season, my volunteer hours and running miles are piling up, and the VaughanMillers still love a good laugh together. Here's to 2010!

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.