Spring sneaking in...

I'm sleepy and spent way too many hours on the computer today, catching up from sparse website queues. Was also behind this week so I could write 2 articles for a local publication and field a hopeful job opportunity. Today I knuckled down, and thankfully am closer to my weekly goal than I thought I'd be. Still gotta work Saturday, but not as daunting now. I'll take Sunday off to clean, relax, and start seeds.

But this quick post is about walking. I've been at it every other day, and I'm determined to stay off the scale, because I don't want to be disappointed by a number, when there's really no reason to be disappointed. My body is reacting to the walking like some kind of taut machine. My jiggles disappear against the work that walking these hills is. My muscles are developing again, and my tummy flattens, in ways that are hardly noticeable to the untrained eye, but which I feel in the way I'm able to move my body differently, the way I'm not as tired after doing regular tasks, the way my inflammation is down. I've been managing 2 miles on decent hills, so today, since I knew I wanted to walk the track instead, which is flat, I did 3 miles. My body will ache a bit tomorrow, but it will only motivate me for Sunday's walk.

The buffet was open at the soccer field amidst the track today. The week prior was on and off rain, and it had finally started to clear today after a 24-hour stretch of the wet stuff. There were at least 2 dozen robins on the soccer field taking advantage of the protein that had crawled to the surface. Also some kind of bird that looked like a young jay, no head plumage, but similar body coloring, and I made another mental note that I'd love to buy a bird book. It's easy enough to spot a male cardinal, but the variety here has me curious. It's time to start homeschooling Melanie again. Plus I put a bird feeder out front, and I'd love to be able to identify the local clientele taking advantage of my generosity.

I set my water bottle near a tree since I had the track to myself, and used one of my stitch counters to tick off the laps, because it's easy to miscount by about lap 6. Worked great. The track is .23 miles, so 13 laps put me at a very satisfying 2.99 miles. The skies stayed cloudy, I watched the fog lift and lower over the mountains to the north, and 2 Canada geese flew overhead. At one point, some signal known only to the robins caused them all to fly up into the trees for a bit. Safety re-established, they came down in groups and explored once again.

I'm so in love with this area. To have seasons back without a bitter, heavy winter. To recognize things from my childhood. This week, the forsythia has been blooming. Today as I stepped out my front door to drive to the track, I noticed a critter on the blacktop. My first wooly bear in 26 years! I scooped him up and brought him in to show Hubs. Next, I have my eye peeled for chipmunks.

Happy Friday, y'all!

Image from here