Back on Track

Four miles today, and everything felt pretty good in this the first week of my marathon training, and the first actual run.  The weather has turned nice and cool - Joe Pye weeds are bowing their tall heads along the roads, and everything is beginning to have that mature musky fragrance of early Fall,

And the light is so beautiful, too.  Last night Martha and I walked down the road and the sky had this peach-colored, pastel color to it that seemed to illuminate the entire world in an otherworldly kind of light.  And there was a cool breeze!  Have we actually turned the corner on all that rain, and all that warm weather?

 All along my route, people were out walking and enjoying the morning.  As I approached the corner where my Mom used to live, near Satulah Ridge, a couple walking a little black dog told me they had just seen a Mama Bear and her two cubs.  Sure enough, another car was stopped in the road, the window down and a mobile phone taking photos, and a little cub scampered across a driveway less than 50 feet away.  No Mama in sight, and I was glad.  They are unpredictable creatures, after all, and they can run a lot faster than I can.  Especially today.