Christmas Lights in September

It was another beautiful cool morning in Highlands today, blue sky alternating with dark, almost-menacing clouds, and a nice breeze out of the south and the east.  It really does feel like fall now, that time of year when I always seem run my best.  I decided to take a different route today, up Chestnut Street and then around Lower Lake Road and Gibson Street, shady unpaved gravel roads far away from the distractions of traffic, leaf blowers, and lawnmowers.  I did not encounter anyone at all on those roads, and it was nice to be alone with only the sound of the birds for company.

I eventually found myself back on our regular route again, but when I reached Fifth Street I turned left, all the way down Spring Street, and then out the Franklin Road just a little ways so that I could run through the Will Henry Stevens covered bridge at the entrance to the Bascom Center for the Visual Arts - it's always a special treat to run through a covered bridge!

From the Bascom, I followed Oak Street back toward downtown Highlands, and suddenly, somewhere just past the Baptist Church, I found myself engulfed in a little shower of leaves, stirred up from that south breeze.  Now it really felt like fall; I glanced at my watch and saw that I was approaching five miles, and when I finally rounded the last corner I was at six, a longer run than usual for the middle of the week.  I attribute my energy to that breeze, those falling leaves, and also (perhaps most important) that brand-new pair of running shoes I was wearing.  Nothing like a new pair of shoes to put a spring in your step!

When I arrived back at Founders Park, I saw a vehicle parked there and a small lift at work; I remembered that Martha had told me she had seen this same sight yesterday during her run.  It was a company installing Christmas lights in the park.  Does the Town gets a discount for having the company arrive so early in the season to do this work?  (Probably not, based on the money the Town seems to be spending these days!) 

It was a reminder that cooler temperatures lie ahead, and then the blaze of fall color, and then the first few flakes of snow and the ice skating rink being set up.  Can all this be just around the corner?