Nine Hundred Fifty-Four

May 29, 2019
6.86 Miles in 1:10:51
Mood: Pink or Brown?
Soundtrack: The Avett Brothers "Country Was" and "True Sadness" and "Live Vol. Four"

This tree has brown leaves if you look at them closely, but the direct sunlight upon them made it look like a pink tree from a distance. This is one of the trees that is pink in April, too. So is it a pink tree or a brown tree at this point? I can't really tell. All I know for sure is that it looked cool surrounded by green this morning.

Nine Hundred Fifty-Three

May 26, 2019
7.29 Miles in 1:11:26
Mood: Green
Soundtrack: Robert DeLong "Just Movement"

Wash Park is really green right now. Cool and forest-y in places. That is all.

Nine Hundred Fifty-Two

May 23, 2019
5.35 Miles in 55:03
Mood: Wet feet, old kids.
Soundtrack: Lord Huron "Lonesome Dreams"

The sky was so gray this morning that I thought there was no way it wasn't going to rain. Still, this was my last chance to run this week, so I went out into the gray anyway. It didn't rain on me at all, but I still managed to get my shoes soaked because I was foolish enough to walk through a field. There was so much water on the ground from the rain this week that by the time I arrived on the other side, my feet were soaked and I had serious regrets. Poor choice.

This is also a significant run in that it is the final run I will take with children in elementary school. My youngest is joining his big sister and moving on up to Middle School, and I feel old.

Nine Hundred Fifty-One

May 22, 2019
5.80 Miles in 1:00:12
Mood: Liar liar, photo on fire.
Soundtrack: The Head and The Heart "Living Mirage"

This photo is a lie. It was gray and overcast almost the entire morning, and I spent 90% of this run circling the Streets at Southglenn, and yet for the brief period where I was on the Highline Canal, the sun came out for just a few minutes, so it looks like it was a beautiful run on the Canal trail when really it was a gloomy morning at the outdoor mall. It was still a nice time, but it's funny how this picture tells so little of the true story. On the plus side, it wasn't snowing this morning. It was snowing 24 hours previously which is why I didn't run on Tuesday because I didn't feel like being soaking wet and freezing.

Nine Hundred Fifty

May 17, 2019
5.78 Miles in 59:23
Mood: Gorgeous spring morning and some new music!
Soundtrack: The Head and The Heart "Living Mirage"

I have long maintained that September is the best month in Colorado, but May has got to be very closely in second place. The weather is gorgeous, even if it's a bit too chilly a bit too often, and things are coming to life, and everything is so green right now. Plus, it will get warm, but not too hot. I'm enjoying this spring quite a bit.

In addition to a lovely May morning, I also woke up to a new The Head and The Heart album being available on Spotify, so I listened to that about five times throughout the course of the day, starting with this run. It's good, but I wouldn't say it's great. Still, I do love THaTH, so anytime we get new music from them is a win, plus I might begin to like it more the more I listen, as usually happens.

Nine Hundred Forty-Nine

May 16, 2019
6.23 Miles in 1:05:06
Mood: Backyard tee-pee gazing.
Soundtrack: Waterdeep "Sink or Swim" and "To Chase Away the Birds"

Is it cultural appropriation to have a tee-pee in the back yard of your million dollar home? It feels like it might be, but I am not the best arbiter of such things. I was just happy it existed so I could take a picture of it. I mean...it's a tee-pee!!

Nine Hundred Forty-Eight

May 14, 2019
3.70 Miles in 38:06
Mood: Stupid diabetes.
Soundtrack: Vaudeville Etiquette "Debutantes & Dealers" / Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness "Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness"

Diabetes is a bummer. I was doing decently at the beginning of this run, but then I was waylaid by a low blood sugar, and I was pretty much done. I ate my Almond Butter that I keep for these types of situations, tried to run just a little more, and then ended up walking home. Those low blood sugars just wreck a run. I hate them.

Pink tree season is just about over, but I found this odd tree that was almost entirely green but for a few flowers of pink. That's a bit unusual, and it looked pretty cool.

Nine Hundred Forty-Seven

May 12, 2019
7.03 Miles in 1:10:04
Mood: An appreciation of young geese.
Soundtrack: Billie Eilish "WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?" and TV on the Radio "Dear Science"

The goslings were out in force on Sunday, and while I am not a huge fan of geese, it's impossible not to look at baby geese and think they are cute. Especially when they are all in a line following their mama through the park. It's unfortunate that they grow up to be geese, because goslings are great.

Nine Hundred Forty-Six

May 10, 2019
6.22 Miles in 1:03:58
Mood: My, what a big camera you have.
Soundtrack: Dave Matthews Band "Away From The World" and Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness "Zombies on Broadway" and Ben Folds "Songs for Silverman"

I had a really good pink tree photo I was going to use for this run, but then I saw this guy and his gigantic camera lens. I look this picture on the sly as I walked past him. Considering I was trying to be discrete, I think it turned out pretty good, you get the lake in the background and a really good shot of the world's largest camera lens. I think you could take pictures of the American flag on the moon from where that guy was standing with that camera. I've never seen anyone walking around with a bigger camera, that thing was massive.

Nine Hundred Forty-Five

May 7, 2019
4.46 Miles in 47:06
Mood: Stinky (Smelling)
Soundtrack: Ben Folds "So There" and "Lonely Avenue"

The purple stink flowers are back. Man these things smell bad. So gross.

Nine Hundred Forty-Four

May 5, 2019
5.90 Miles in 58:49
Mood: Doing weird things because I strongly felt like I needed to.
Soundtrack: Jack Garratt "Phase"

Several months ago while I was running at Wash Park, I passed by someone sitting at a bench near the fishing pond on the north end of the park and I was struck by a very odd and very insistent feeling that I was supposed to go over to them and tell them that they are important, they are loved, and they matter. I fought this inclination before finally deciding that I should do it, and on the next lap around the park I arrived to find that person had left. I have felt slightly guilty about it ever since, and I determined that the next time I saw anyone sitting there I would immediately tell them these things.

I have looked every time I have run at the park, but have never seen anyone sitting at that bench until this run. There was a woman, probably in her early thirties sitting there alone. I tried to get over the awkwardness of this action, walked over to the bench and told her, "This is going to sound weird, but I feel compelled to tell you three things...1. You are important. 2. You are loved. 3. You matter." She smiled and told me thank you, and that she really needed to hear that on this particular morning. I wished her a good day and headed back to the running trail around the park and finished my run.

I have no idea why I felt like I had to say that, nor do I know what possible difference it made if any, but I did feel very good about it as I finished up and headed home.

Nine Hundred Forty-Three

May 3, 2019
6.21 Miles in 1:03:36
Mood: Fear not for the pink trees!
Soundtrack: Panic! at the Disco "Death of a Bachelor" and "Pray for the Wicked"

The pink trees are still out, as can been seen in the photo. I like this weird colorful art installation in front of Goodson Rec Center, but I like it even more when there is a pink tree behind it. It's not a stellar pink tree season, but I'm still finding a way to get some into posts, because I'm a professional and also a pink tree enthusiast. This stuff is important to me.

Nine Hundred Forty-Two

May 2, 2019
4.17 Miles in 43:12
Mood: Pondering the squirrel-flower epidemic.
Soundtrack: Passenger "All The Little Lights" and "The Boy Who Cried Wolf"

This squirrel was just staring at me. I think all the white flowers have some sort of intoxicating effect on squirrels. At one point I swear I ran past a tree where a squirrel was just eating flowers. Like it was some sort of petal buffet. He was going to town. This guy must have already eaten enough to get stoned, as he was just kind of chilling out on the branch staring at me like a pothead might chill out in front of a lava lamp. He let me get exceptionally close and didn't scamper away as squirrels are prone to do. I'm worried about the long-lasting effects that these flowers are having on young squirrels.