why I don't run in the woods

I'm going to keep you in suspense about the title- an incentive to read the whole post, or maybe to skip the beginning.

In case you haven't guessed, I like to give minute details of life great importance, and treat supposedly big events like minute details. One of these so-called big events lately is a hiatus from work. I'll just say I'm working on a government funded project, our contract renewal is caught up in red tape, and there's currently no money to pay us. The solution we were handed is unpaid vacation until the contract is signed, which may be days to weeks to months. It doesn't matter so much once summer's over. In the grand scheme of things, this isn't that important, but it has occupied my thoughts and conversations all too much lately, and explains why I have so much free time. However, now that I'm used to the idea, I'm glad to have this time to fill with things such as:

Visits to PA and Cincy
Packing/reorganizing my life
Planning Environmental Management Association events
Playing with the dogs (still dogsitting)
Working out
Reading stacks of unread books on my shelves
Blogging
Helping friends pack and move
Bowling
Picking blueberries
Making blueberry muffins from scratch
Running in the woods (but not anymore)

The problem with running in the woods, besides the isolation, the rugged terrain just waiting to twist my ankles, the many places for psychos to hide, is really that there are too many interesting things to see. You can't just RUN past them, even at my slow pace. Today, I ran past a clump of trees with animals just a bit bigger than fat squirrels climbing up. It was a family of young raccoons. I'm not a big raccoon fan, but when they're away from garbage cans and acting like wild animals, I can start to like them. Of course I stopped and stood there for many minutes, staring down a couple of the bolder ones. I experimented with making different noises, including an attempt at the ones they were making. It didn't faze them or draw them closer. I tried crouching down to appear less scary, but the first hint of movement sent one up an extra foot. Then I remembered reading somewhere that raccoons like shiny objects, so I waved my keys around, and threw one of the nonessential ones on the ground below one of their trees. Then I actually did run one of the short loop trails. I came back as quietly as I could, but the raccoons were in the same positions or further up the trees. The key was still in its place. Of course, I hadn't let nearly enough time go by. And other hikers probably came by during that time. This is why I'm not a real scientist. But my key wasn't that nonessential and I needed to feed the dogs soon, so I left with no new data and a pretty poor workout. However, I do have a new mantra: woods are for walking, roads are for running.

footnotes

Notes on my last post...

To see the linked article I referred to, click on the words "blog lite," the title of the post. Hadn't used that feature before.

I'm no Sherlock. The mystery of the green rubber snake came to an unexciting end when I asked our lab manager if she'd put it there and she said our boss (who I'm housesitting for) keeps it there all the time to scare away critters. I still think it needs to visit the lab.

I'm all alone in the lab today. Everyone's out sampling, training volunteers, or teaching a class. It's so sad, and so slow. I better get back to work.

blog lite

I know this is the longest break I've taken from posting. part of that is some of the stuff going on in my life is a little serious and personal for public distribution. Don't freak out...if you need to know about it, I'm sure you already do. Two things I will mention, since they're already national news but have touched people I'm very close to. For those who pray, please lift these up.

1. Hurricane Dennis. Fortunately, my Pensacola family (and dog) got through with minimal damage. I'm thankful for that. After seeing the aftermath of Ivan, which still hasn't been fully repaired, I can only imagine it's taking a huge toll on the economy and morale.

2. Hamilton, Ohio, and the many towns like it across the country. Just today, I found that a terrible crime there sparked a wave of racial violence in the neighborhood of Hamilton Living Water Ministry, where I used to work. The people in this neighborhood were like family to me, dysfunctional as it may be. This violence is a huge setback in all I worked for and hoped to see continued in the city. See the linked article.

Now the "lite" part begins...

Again I'm housesitting/dogsitting. This time, I've been able to try out the hot tub and raid the blueberry bushes. I went out to the bushes today to free some birds caught under the nets intended to keep them out, and found another mysterious visitor...a green rubber snake! I'm sure it wasn't there when I picked 2 days ago, and it would take some effort to get it in under the nets. It was obviously placed with the intention of scaring, but it failed because 1)I'm not scared of any snakes I'm likely to find around here, 2)I know of no real snakes in Indiana that look like that rubber snake! But I wonder who the culprit is? A mischievous neighbor? One of my co-workers? At any rate, if it doesn't "slither" away by the same means it appeared, I'll definitely be using it on my friends.

Took a hiking/camping trip to Red River Gorge over 4th of July. This was my first backpacking trip, and luckily I was not the only 1st timer. I had some people to lag behind with when the boys thought it was a great idea to race up and down hills on not-too-well-maintained trails. It was hard, disgusting (meaning sweaty) work, but so worth it. Amazing views of many types of forest, cliffs, rock arches (like this rock bridge) and bridges, etc. Highly recommend a visit if you're ever in the area. The fact that we didn't run into too many people along the way, on 4th of July weekend, was a great bonus.



My biker (meaning cyclist, this time) friends have got me hooked on the Tour de France. You're probably thinking, as I did, wow...guys on bikes pedaling for hours day after day...not thrilling unless you're a big spandex fan. But once you know the riders, the teams, the strategies, it can be pretty exciting. Throw in a few mountains and some amusing commentary, and it's a great time.