Mostly Sunny

Wow, what a weekend. And it's not even over! :-)

Friday we were at Cavs vs. Pistons; sadly, no victory. (Today, hopefully.) But what a game! So very exciting. So very LOUD!! My voice is still recovering. Today's game is about to start, and the Indians game is currently in progress, tied at 2 vs. Pittsburg. So there's not much hope for my poor vocal chords. But wait, I'm not even to Sunday yet!

Saturday we intended to get up extra early and do some quick planting. (Have you ever heard of such a thing? Yeah. Neither have we.) There really was no peeling us from the warm, comfy embrace of our dear old mattress. Our only major plans for the day were a 20-25 mile training ride with friends, and we were only a little late.

WOO *HOO*!!! Fantastic ride!!! It was the Kipton Trail, in Lorain County, in the west of the Greater Cleveland area. We’d never done it before. The trail itself was an old, disused railroad that has been paved beautifully for hiking, walking, running, skating, any non-motorized use. Because of its original purpose, the trail is flat and quite straight. Where it intersects with roads is generally clear, well marked, and easy to cross. Well worth the long drive (40+ minutes) for us!

The only disappointing thing (AT FIRST) was that Rick, our friend Mike, and I were the only participants. We 3 are from the East Side of the Greater Cleveland area. In fact, Mike only lives a few blocks away from us. Rick planned the ride to accommodate the Westsiders. You can imagine how completely thrilled we were when we got a call from our teammate Chris, saying that he started at the other end of the trail with his son Josh, and would meet us. It was a gorgeous day, a truly excellent trail (worth visiting again), and it was so much fun to ride with Chris and Josh.

The wildlife report: omigoodness, dozens of turkey vultures (they are simply breathtaking the way they play with the thermals), 4 red-tailed hawks, 5 or 6 separate sightings of groundhogs, including a mother and her offspring waddling across the trail. That was very special. A phoebe (I love their call), and too many red winged blackbirds to count (heard and seen -- another favorite call), 3 cardinals, 6 blue jays, 2 different types of woodpecker but I was going too fast to ID them. There were parts of the trail where it was lined with wild phlox in full bloom, in varied shades from white to dark purple. Very lovely. Perhaps best of all, at the beginning of the ride a dragonfly landed on my leg. That's one of my favorite insects. I felt very fortunate.

We had to rush home so Rick could get to his part-time job delivering pizzas. It ended up being a very late night, which didn't work as well with our Sunday plans, but there it is. These things happen, and one does what one does.

This morning we got up almost inexcusably early in order to attend to the needs of some very deserving athletes. Today is the day of the Cleveland Marathon. They always need volunteers to work the water and energy drink tables, and Rick's gym was assigned the table directly in front of Jacobs Field (where the Cleveland Indians baseball team play). We had so much fun!

We were at mile marker 11. The first runner came by just a little before 8 a.m. No one wanted/needed water until many runners later. After a while, we had an absolute crush of bodies, and we all got caught up in the rush of hydrating the runners. It was all arms and legs and cups and voices: "Water here, PowerAde at the end of the tables!" "You guys look great!" "Wow! Great smile! You're fabulous!" "Keep it up! You're awesome!" "Water here! PowerAde down there!"

I would SOOOOO do it again. Even that early in the morning.

I'm so glad they all get medals. ANYONE who is willing to run 26.2 miles and call it fun, call it sport, call it anything besides running away from danger, deserves something shiny to commemorate the day.

Of course, anyone who is doing it because of danger deserves amnesty...

Anyway, now that we are home, we have finally gotten to all of the plants that have so deserved our attention. The yard is finally starting to look like something to be proud of! Rick has baseball with him outside (update: Tribe victorious over Pittsburg, 3-2 in 10 innings), where he continues to do battle with weeds. I have basketball inside (go LeBron!!), where I contemplate my current felting project and where I intend to go with my next tapestry.

The sun is hiding right now. He's been playing hide and seek all day. The wind is a constant. Perhaps that is my inspiration today.