Wednesday, March 12, 2014

A Perfect Afternoon

Blogging has, yet again, been non-existent for many months. Since the last post, I've spent a few more weeks on Orcas Island, taught a semester's worth of classes, run maybe 1200 miles, traveled to various conferences...and (saving the most im-balanc-y thing for last) had a baby. One of these days, I'll write about these things in detail.

But, for now, and in the spirit of bidding farewell to a long and cold (by central NC standards) winter...what a glorious day yesterday was. It wasn't just the cloudless Carolina blue sky or the ease of parking around town that comes with UNC's spring break. Rather, it was a lovely walk with baby (and with a friend and her baby) to the daffodil field that emerges along Morgan Creek each spring. We walked a few hundred feet to the daffodils and, after some failed attempts to photograph baby on his own in the flowers, we sat and had a lovely conversation and some much-needed coffee.



And -- the second piece of fun for the afternoon -- the day's run also brought a new discovery. I thought that I would, for the first time in a long time, and in anticipation of running the "faculty mile" at UNC again this spring, do some repeats on the track. I ran up to campus, but a lacrosse game meant that the track was closed. Disappointed, I carried on with a road run...and I managed to discover some trails that I'd never been on. Having lived in Chapel Hill for nearly 10 years, and having run all of that time, it's a rarity to find a new local spot. But there I was, on a dead end street on a warm afternoon, and realizing that the dead end included a trailhead. It was perhaps only a mile of trail, but it included some lovely forest and a gently flowing creek. I'm so glad that the track was closed, and I'm now figuring out how to work this bit of trail into some of my local runs. Yippee for spring, and for discoveries close to home!