An Ocean View

Our first run together in the new year and our excited chatter rose from the bed of the forest floor only to be caught in the canopy of spiney branches of leafless trees.  Winter's cold seeped through our gloves and nibbled at our fingertips.  The creek, swollen just a few weeks before, now meandered at a leisurely pace leaving an icy reminder of its presence on the creek bed rocks.

We pass under an abandoned tressel and I see him there again.  He is wrapped in a summer's sleeping bag to stay warm, which I'm sure is no match for a January 25* morning.  My heart goes out to him.  I say a prayer.

The trail takes us away from the creek and up to the forest hillside.  Conversation turns to fall marathons and who wants to do what race.  We plan and strategize and convince each other what we should do.  Watch beeps are heard reminding us we have clipped off another mile.

Despite the cold, the sun was shining brilliantly and people peppered the trail in various forms of leisure, some walking their dogs, others running and still others biking.  I wonder who is on the trail due to some new year's resolution.  We convince ourselves to run "The Dip" to reach our turn around point.  This decision gives us 2 uphills and 2 downhills within 1/2 mile.  We are sweating and working hard and loving every minute of it.

The halfway mark turns us around and we head back to town.  We pass fallen rocks which have tumbled from high above the hill's sheer rockface.  The rocks, some large and some small, remind me that nature has a fury.

Red and orange leaves of fall have turn to a decaying, dirty brown and are now well trampled onto the forest floor giving a softness to the trail.  There is a break in the trees giving us a view of the ocean, promptly pulling our very breath from us.  The beauty of it enraptures us and our pace slows.  A Bayliner moves across the glass like sea leaving evidence of its movement wafting behind it like a lazy string blowing in a summer's breeze.  We continue on, feeling very blessed to live in such a beautiful country.

A quiet waterfall has cut its way in the hillside and we are only aware of its presence as we run by it.  Icicles mark an outline of the waterfall and add a melody to the sound of its rushing water.  A bird chirps; reminding me spring will come soon enough.  The beauty of this winter's day is not lost on a spring's longing.  I am loving every moment of this run.

What seems to be in a blink of an eye, the run is finished and each head off into the direction of home.  Except me.  I think I'll take the long route and drive by the ocean...