Morning Run-Spencer Crest
I’ve decided to write some posts about my semi-regular morning runs. This is when I do some of my best thinking about Gaia Girls. Why? Well, first and foremost, it keeps me from thinking about how much I’m sweating, or how long I’ve been going, or the fact that I’m getting a stitch.
More importantly, even though I’m usually running through or around the City of Corning, Gaia is all around. And she’s talking to me. The things I see and hear and smell get my mind turning about how nature works and how we work with (or against) nature. This morning, I went up to Spencer Crest Nature Center. I started out on “Serenity Trail” and headed down the hill to Amelia Pond. I remember taking a field trip to Spencer Crest in the 5th grade. We pulled water out of the pond and later looked at it under a microscope. I was astounded at all the living things, chugging through their lives unknown to me and my inability to see something that small. I thought about the millions of lives happening as I jogged around the pond.
I spent 20 minutes on the unmarked trails between the Observatory and the pond. It is a nice hillside meadow and the trails braid themselves around and around. I saw one of my favortie birds: the goldfinch. I also notice the thousands of Queen Anne’s Lace. I started to wonder why it is called that. After all, it is really a type of wild carrot. When I was young, I liked pulling them out and nibbling on the small, carrot-like roots. (A quick Google search told me Queen Anne was indeed, an expert lace-maker.)
As the day grew warmer, I headed into the woods, down Maple Run and around the nice Deer Run Loop. I was going to go check out Turtle Pond (I love turtles) but somehow found myself heading back up the hill.
I didn’t see any animals. After all, my feet were pounding over dirt, roots and rocks. Any sensible critter heard me coming and scampered away long before I could see them. However, I heard the following: squirrels, chipmonks, blue jays, turkeys, red-tailed hawk, wrens, finches, robins, crickets/cincadas and, of course…mosquitos! Yes, I’m scratching as I write.
It was an excellent morning run.
juliagulia193 says:
I got back from vacation, my grandma lives right outside of the hamptons in long island and so we went there of course, but we also went to Montauk Point (I think i spelled it wrong) It’s the very tip of Long Island and the closer you get to it the more water you see and the narrower the land got, at one point the on the highway you could see the ocean on both sides of you!` It was amazing! After we climbed up to a 110 foot tall light house, which was the first one in NY State, we went to the beach there, you could only get there by walking through a forest, and it took a while, but it was worth it. When you got to the beach we climbed on rocks and saw small tide pools and amazing little crabs. If you walked a little further you could completely be at the tip and it is an amazing feeling to see the ocean very nearly surrounding you! I felt like I could almost see Europe and some girl on the complete other side is standing there, staring back imagining the same thing…. The ocean is one of my favorite things, because it is so wide and open and seemingly unending. That’s why I like the country and the ocean so much, I am horribly clausetraphobic, after all ( once again horrid spelling I mean afraid of inclosed spaces)I love Long Island so much because it has farms and the ocean. Wow thats long! Bye!
juliagulia193 says:
Oh and we also went to a farm and I got to hug a calf! I’ve always wanted a cow, and we have enough room for one or two (we have 2.5 acres) but I couldn’t get one so then, I wanted an alpaca, but no. Then I wanted sheep for my border collie dog, then goats,but I had to settle with chickens. My parents said I could get chickens if I could come up with the money for the food, coop and chickens ($150) and I currently have $95 just from collecting change since June!