Da Deer Run Run 2006 Edition

A monk asked Tung-shan: "When cold and heat come along, how can I avoid them?"

Tung-shan said: "Why not go where there is neither cold nor heat?"

"Where is there cold nor heat?"

Tung shan said: "When it is cold, let the cold kill you. When it is hot, let the heat kill you."

Not fatal, but brisk. Da Deer Run Run is one of my favorite events. Again we had snow on the course, a nice 5 or 6 inch base that was packed down spit slick in some spots, mushy and churned up in others for those of us toward the middle of the pack. Bitter cold of the past few days had let up some, but it was still mid-20s with strong winds, certainly pushing wind chills down toward zero, especially in the level areas near the lake. I happily finished in 51:10 and hit the hot soup. Fun run.

Snow

We got our first seasonal taste of snow with a relatively early winter storm. By yesterday afternoon I was out in the woods postholing through 8"-20" (drifts) of virgin snow. Sun had arrived making the ice glint diamond-like on branches creating a prism effect. Running was tough with some areas drifted to a couple of feet, but it's always magical hitting the trails with first snow, the effort only serving to amplify the senses. Saw rabbit, deer, coon, coyote tracks, a few small does and a good sized antlered buck, eight point or so, that jumped off trail into thick underbrush, somehow managing to evade the shotgun so far. Good training for Deer Run, Run next weekend. Last year I remember there being a good snowpack on the trails, and I'm hoping so again.

Soundtrack: Jayhawks, "Hollywood Town Hall" Good mood music for a winter day.

A Run

Morning greets me with otherworldly sliver of pink oil paint streak, fairly crackling as the pops of high tension powerlines over the eastern horizon. Late November may be too late for indian summer, yet no frost covers my window this morning. At McNaughton Park a quilt of oak leaves carpets single track, legs taking twenty minutes of climbing, descending into creek bottom before looseness comes. Rounding into the totem pole clearing, he's standing at the trailhead to the beach-- coyote, fur thick for coming cold, in no hurry he trots down the slope where I run only minutes later. No sign he was there. Vanished.

Before Rope Hill, two men with dogs. I pass, but not without some growls. Rope hill doesn't bury me; Foundation Loop helps thing flow, learning again to negotiate these hills. They can grind you down if you disrespect their wiles. Total time: 1:45. It's a start. Stretching every 30 minutes seems to have helped the foot; time will tell more. For today, a run.

Soundtrack: "Good Times"- Charlie Robison

Mackinaw River Blog

I've started a parallel blog (no myspace, no standard website, keepin it simple) to this one tentatively entitled, "River's Bend: A Mackinaw River Resource Spot." My goal is to set up some sort of forum for my own writing and various historical projects centered around the river. Ultimately, I would love to expand and include other folks' work of any and all sorts as they pertain to the Mackinaw. I don't know exactly which direction this will head, if any, but here goes.

Please contact me if you have any ideas or would like contribute in any way.

Go here: http://www.mackinawriver.blogspot.com

Election 2006

Take that old grey mare and shoot it
ain't nothin to you but a lame idea

Seen enough of those to know where they'll lead me
following hoofprints i'm finding a foundry

I didn't know where i was going
and i still don't know where i'll go today

Seems like all the folks with time to do the talking
they will always be the ones with the least to say

Tsunami, "Old Grey Mare"