In Which We Find... My 700th Post

So it's no secret that Mr. Man and I are having a hard time of it lately. Half the problem is we are both stubborn and cut from the same cloth. He has a very similar personality type as I do.. and therefore we but heads. A LOT. He is also a teenager and hormonal and in 8th grade which as I remember sucked a bunch, and I know that he spends all day being good and what have you and then needs to come home and just blow off some steam. I know this in my head. I have a hard time remembering it when he's being smarty-mouthed or talking back or just being a butt. I also have started to think that possibly he doesn't realize when he's being fresh and talking back all the time. He just says it how it is (wonder who he gets that from?!) and in his brain there's nothing wrong with that so I shouldn't get upset.

So anyhow, on Saturday of last week (the 27th) I went out for my run around 9am. I have given up running on the roads (my town was built in a lake bed and we are surrounded by hills everywhere) and have taken to running on the old railroad tracks. The tracks have been removed and it's now a recreational trail. I can to go MA in one direction (10 miles) or if I'm rambunctious I can to go Maine in the other. I run towards Maine (seriously, I don't ever plan on going further than Keene which is 10 miles if I ever get that far) because it's a more scenic route and the trail isn't as rocky and there aren't peoples dogs barking at my ankles. So I walked my 4 minutes down to the trail entrance at the end of my street behind the school, started down the track, and saw something up ahead. I stopped, because I don't run with my glasses on and it was kind of far away and I wasn't sure what it was. I've met foxes before and they generally scoot over the bank and into the woods, but this creature was coming at me. It was grey/black/white and reminded me of a small dog. With pointy up ears. And a bushy-kind of tail. It was chasing a chipmunk and I decided I didn't really want to mess with it so I turned around and headed the other way. Tuesday I tried to go down the track again, but when I got to the spot where I watched the coyote run into the woods, I got freaked out and turned around again.

Yesterday I asked Mr. Man to come with me on his bike. When I walk my 2 mile loop he always asks to come along and I always tell him no. I walk to unwind from life, I don't want company. I run because walking all the time is boring, I love the woods and don't mind if I have company or not. He agreed and we had a very pleasant half hour. He mentioned to me that probably the coyotes were always there, I just hadn't seen them. I told him that I am always aware of animals when I'm alone in the woods, and hunters now that it's fall...but it was the fact that I did see one. Besides, considering the remote nature of the trail I choose, and the fact that my cell doesn't get signal out there, I surmised that running with someone even on a bike is better than being alone. He loves the woods and I think this might be good for our relationship. We'll see how it goes tomorrow.