Monday, July 21, 2008

the fireweed days of summer

First of all, thank you Richard, for showing me how to make big pictures!

I can tell the time of summer here by the roadside flowers. The buttercups and trillium are long gone, being May residents: lupines, if any, passed by in June. Ox eye daisies and black eyed Susan started making their appearance in late June. I saw my first Turks cap lily a few days ago. And these seasonal beauties have been painting roadsides for the last week or so. Fireweed is named for its propensity to bloom in recently burned-over areas. As far as I know, no fires have occurred recently around here, but yet here and there I find a patch of these Primrose family relatives.

I spotted this beauty first opening up on my morning run a week ago, and returned with camera yesterday to photograph it while I was taking a short walking break. I have been running nearly every morning for four weeks now, and I have noticed some subtle differences. I no longer labor to run nearly half a mile, like I did when I started. I have added a bit of distance to my routine, and even some hills. I was hoping to see some weight loss, but the scale needle has not been showing a major downward trend, although it has not been approaching former high weights so that is good. I think I'm building muscle, which weighs more than fat, because I definitely feel slimmer.

I had to take a break today, although it was surprisingly hard to do so. The outer sides of my ankles have been hurting since yesterday, enough to, along with my plantar fasciitis, make it uncomfortable to walk or run anywhere. So I thought it was maybe just muscle fatigue from adding distance to my routine lately. At least I hope so. I'll try again tomorrow.

4 comments:

Lynne at Hasty Brook said...

I was just telling Art last night that the air smells like high summer- for me that means clover. Next will be goldenrod, then comes that kind of sweet brown grass fragrance that signals summer's end. I LOVE the smell of summer air at night.
We're heading up to Hasty on Wednesday evening or Tursday morning to stay through the weekend. We're meeting with a "septic designer" on Friday to see if we can put in a septic system. I'm afaid the creek set-backs will prohibit it.
Hope your feet feel better with a little rest. I'm proud of you and your efforts.

Anonymous said...

Good for you for starting to run. Hope your feet feel better soon - you might want to get some footbeds for your shoes if you don't already have them.

How far are you running? I just started up for the first time in nearly 15 years last week. I'm embarrassed at how little distance I'm doing, but feel good that I'm getting out there.

Jayne said...

Running every day? Wow. And I just thought that was a room in hell. ;c)
Would be for me anyway. Too much jiggles!! You go girl!

eric said...

Hey! On Sunday while mowing the lawn I spotted my first blooming fireweed. For me, that means it's time to start going over the duck hunting gear and - to the great dismay and irritation of the Mrs. - time to start repainting decoys. "Mom, where's Dad?"

"Where do you THINK he is?!" ;-)

Also, I'm glad to read that you're still running. Two nights ago, I did a 5k run for the first time EVER and last night - supposedly a night off from running - I did another two miles. I'm ALMOST addicted to that most unpleasant of activities. As far as weight loss goes, I've seen very little; but I feel GREAT and am definitely exchanging fat for muscle. Good for you Deb, Keep it up!