Synchronized Squirrels

I woke up early this morning, filled up a glass with water, and sat in the backyard listening to some music. Imagine this, down from a Ponderosa pine came a squirrel...and from behind a bush emerged another squirrel. The squirrels went to a clearing about 30 feet from me and coincidentally moved in harmony with the music. The song I was listening to, with the movements of the squirrels, was perfect ... it was straight out of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory ... I was memorized ... the squirrels moved in synchronicity ... and when the song ended, the squirrels disappeared back into nature - lol!

If you want to here a short snippet of the song I was listening to, here's a link - LISTEN TO ME - if you've seen Charlie you'll know what I mean :) -steve

Coyote - The Trickster

This morning I woke up, made some breakfast, took a shower, put on some clothes, stepped into my flipflops, and walked to work on trail - no biking or running this time...and definitely going casual.

As I made my way up the final hill and emerged from the redwoods into a large meadow with low grass, I saw a medium sized coyote with soft tan colored fur. The coyote, known as the trickster in native American tales, was sitting on its rear, alone, in the middle of the open meadow. At this moment I wished that I had brought my camera...brilliant greenery surrounded the meadow with an equally stunning deep blue sky above. The coyote didn't seem to mind my prescence...

I continued on my way in to work. I feel awake and alive..now..it's an amazing feeling!

One of those days...the best! ;)

Have you found yourself out in nature and being in a state of awe of its beauty? For me, this morning was one of those times.

I ran on trails from my home to work this morning. By connecting various trails I was able to stay out for a couple of hours before arriving at work. When I began running the coastal fog embraced the hills where I live - the tall redwoods disappearing above into the moist fog. I ran past creeks...waterfalls...over bridges...up hills...down trails...and when I neared Frisbee Beach off of the San Lorenzo river, I jumped into the water and swam across in deep, cool, flowing water.

As I started making my way up the backside of UCSC from Highway 9 I started to break through the fog. By the time I reached Chinquapin, a fireroad that cuts through the meadows within the UCSC Natural Reserve, there were blue skies and warm sunshine. At this point I was at the North Boundary (near the intersection of Marshall Rd. and Chinquapin). I continued running south on fireroads until I reached my office...where I took a nice shower before heading out to a meeting.

Today's run...it was the best ;)

As far as this afternoon...the mountain bike I race on is in my office, so I'm going to bike back home after work. I'm aiming at a two hour ride.

I'm not lost...I'm on an adventure :)
-steve