I'M WORKING ON IT

Part 1
I made it to the trail at 6:10 this morning and hit the pavement at 6:15. The sun had not yet broken over the horizon. It was already 80 degrees and about 85% humidity.

The over-riding sense was that insects and birds were taking over. I imagine the birds were out for a banquet early in the day. There were squadrons of dragon flies over the meadows. They looked like military helicopters executing maneuvers. There were hundreds of them. They weren't the kind I generally see with dark iridescent bodies. These were black with black and gray stripped wings.

I saw more birds this morning than I ever have before. I saw 6 female cardinals today. They were flying back and forth across the path. I think they were probably getting breakfast for their chicks. They certainly didn't seem bothered by me. I also saw several tiny, brown birds. I don't know what they are, but they fly very fast and their call is more like a ticking sound than a song.

As always, there were rabbits out in force. I passed at least 7 during the walk. They were as placid as ever, only running away when a bird flew near them.

I had a couple of unusual sightings today - an armadillo out in the sun and a small snake warming itself on the edge of the path.

In the first 45 minutes of my walk I only saw two people I had seen on my previous outings. I guess they had the same idea of getting out before it is too hot. After 7:00, I began to see more of the regulars.

I walked the full 7 miles today and did it in under two hours. I felt good about that. The best part was that I was able to go without my sun glasses on the entire outward bound half of the walk. The sun was fully up by the time I made the turn to head back to the car. It was beginning to get uncomfortably hot. There was a breeze, but it was too damp to be cooling. About half way back I managed to catch some strong wind to cool off at least a bit. The last 10 minutes of the walk was brutal. I was overheated and my left knee was painful (bad joint and arthritis), but I made it and was pleased to get back to the car and the air conditioning.

Part 2
I didn't get out as early as yesterday, but I was walking at 6:25 - not too bad. I only planned to walk 5 miles this morning. I'm trying not to hurt myself any more than necessary - not that it should be necessary.

Much like yesterday, the temperature was around 80 degrees. Luckily, we had a short strong shower yesterday afternoon. It seemed to have cleared out some of the humidity, so it wasn't so bad today.

The first wildlife I saw today was a hawk. It was sitting in one of the trees near the start of the trail. It flew across the trail directly in front of me. I didn't see it capture prey, but it was clear that was the plan. That may be why I didn't see any other birds flying around and the only rabbits I saw were very near the underbrush for a quick get-away. Later in the morning I saw an egret landing on the far side of the meadow, near the high trail. This is the first time I've seen one in the park.

It is always interesting to me that so many people from so many different places walk in this park. I heard people talking Japanese, an African language, and some central European language. The folks that walk here seem have different backgrounds, education levels, ages, sizes and shapes. There are some who have been running for some time - you can see it in their lack of body fat and musculature. There are others, like me, who are beginners - their pace and difficulty breathing sets them apart. There are families who get out there together and people with their dogs; people in groups and those who go alone. I'm sure we're all out there for different reasons as well. The great thing is that everyone can be there for whatever reason and we still manage to pass each other without incident every weekend. It makes you think if we can do it here, why can't we do it everywhere.

Time to pull weeds in my garden. Bye.

SUMMER IS HERE
Part 1

Liz called on Friday evening to say her mom was sick and she wouldn't be meeting me to walk on Saturday. I figured I could get up earlier and get out to the trail before it got too hot.

I made it to the trail at about 6:40 - not as early as I had hoped, but at least it was before 7:00.

There were a lot of small rabbits along the trail. I think they don't move away from the traffic because they were just born in the spring and this is standard for them. People have always been around and they never bother the bunnies, so the bunnies aren't afraid of them. The look so soft, I want to pet them. They probably wouldn't let me and if they did, I would probably catch some strange bunny-carried disease.

They cut down the beautiful prairie grass. It was probably a fire hazard, but I liked the way it looked when the breeze was blowing. It looked very calm and soothing.

The very last of the honeysuckle is hanging in and putting out its strong scent. In the humidity, it was cloying and it is a good thing there were just a few blooms. The smell aggravates my allergies.

No rain for a couple of weeks means the water in bayou is back down again. There was quite a strong rapid under the Wilcrest bridge. That is the only place there was any agitation in the entire bayou. The rest was very smooth and quiet - very different from a few weeks ago.

I saw the woman from the Muslim couple again. She was walking by herself this week. She still had on sweat pants and a long skirt. Her head scarf was just around her head this time and her long sleeves were pushed up to her elbows. I still can't imagine how she did the walk. I would have passed out.

The best part of the day was when a young jogger passed by. He was tall and had close-cropped, tawny hair. He was over 6' tall and very lean. He was wearing long athletic shorts and no shirt. He had a strong, muscular back that was a pleasure to view and long, lean legs. I guessed he was either a former college athlete or military. When he passed me on his way back, I was able to enjoy a very pleasant view of an equally muscular chest. My guess was confirmed by the Marine emblem on the lower leg of his shorts. All-in-all very nice.

My pace was somewhat slower than I have been maintaining. It took me an extra 5 minutes on the first leg (usually 20 minutes). I tried to make it up, but wasn't able to. It was so hot by the time I was on the way back, I was about 15 minutes over my usual time. I didn't think it was too bad. I simply don't handle the heat very well. I can't imagine how hot it would have been on the sunny end of the trail.

I only walked 5 miles because I didn't want to hurt myself like I did a few weeks ago.

Part 2

I went to the theatre on Saturday night, so the alarm lost and I stayed in bed. My allergies were going crazy and I wouldn't have lasted 20 minutes on the trail.

Next week - maybe.

I am soooooo far behind on my posting. I heartily apologize to those of you who may have been checking for new posts recently. I'm going to get back up to date right now.


MEMORIAL DAY
Part 1

I met Liz at 8:00 for our walk. It was already really warm, but we got on the Heights walking trail right away. It takes us just about an hour to walk from her place to the south end of the trail and back again. It is about 3 miles and we move at a fairly sedate pace.

By the time we got back at 9:00 it was hot and we were both sweating. I'm half convinced that we have as much condensation as real sweat, but that would be difficult to prove.

Luckily for us, Liz's parents were visiting, so her mom made us breakfast. I love it when someone cooks for me - it doesn't happen very often. We ate our wonderful breakfast and then sat around and talked for a couple of hours. It was very relaxing to unwind after our walk this way.

Part 2

Sunday morning came around way too early. I had plans to go to Galveston to see friends who were at their beach house, so I wanted to get an early start on my walk. Unfortunately, my body wasn't cooperating and I figured, I didn't have to work on Monday, so I had another day to walk and really could sleep in and not walk on Sunday.

Part 3

I spent Sunday with my friends in Galveston and the traffic coming back was miserable. I didn't get home until 1:00 am. I dutifully went right to bed and set the alarm for 5:00 am so I could get up and walk. I didn't. I turned off the alarm and slept until 10:30. I needed the sleep far more than I needed to walk. I did feel really guilty though.