Whew!  Dylan and I just got home from our longest run ever, roughly thirteen and a half miles. We were out for one hundred and fifty-three minutes, which means we averaged nearly five and a half miles per hour.  It also means my legs hurt and it is time for us to eat the orange Jello we mixed up this morning.

The trails are now open and mostly clear on both sides of the river.   It is just tranquil enough along the banks that I might forgive it for the record flooding this year.  There are so many more opportunities to see wildlife near the river!  Yesterday we saw a young deer while playing with some new friends in Bridgeview park.  Today we saw a duck skimming the water for a hundred yards or so and a ridiculously brave yellow and black bird that looked like it might challenge us for the right of way before casually hopping to the other side of the road.

We also saw a person in a white car with a pair of binoculars who may or may not have been birdwatching.  As I rounded the cul-de-sac in question, I hailed two men and asked directions in order to establish a short term relationship.  I then informed them that a man in a parked car a hundred yards away was binocularing in their general direction.  Was it a police detective conducting surveillance?  A jealous husband waiting to pounce on an afternoon cuckold?  Perhaps the man was extremely nearsighted and they were prescription binoculars.

The human wildlife is at least as interesting to observe as the non-human due to our complex social behavior.  What possessed me to tip off the watchees to the existence of the watcher?  Why do I smile and say hello to some strangers and not to others?  What could possibly be soulful and refreshing about running to the point that blisters form on one’s feet?  The long thoughts circle back on themselves as we arrive home tired and hungry and elated.  Longest.  Run.  Ever.