Autumn days

Our fall has felt so mild this year...but honestly hasn't seemed very colourful until the past few days. Now the trees really seem to be putting on their reds and yellows.

For Rachel's geology class, she's had to go about identifying things in her location. First rocks, now water. So yesterday Rachel, Miriam, Phoebe, and I took a little walk to a nearby stream. Phoebe enjoyed playing in the leaves that are—as you can see—quite brown already, rather than the more vibrant colours we get some years. I wonder if it's because it hasn't really rained since, you know, our basement flooded (at the end of August). 

She found a little acorn cap, which she was excited about.

She put it on her head...

...and said "Phoebe nay-corn!"

She calls acorns "nay-corns," obviously.

Here are a few pretty views from our walk:

We didn't end up going fro a run yesterday because although Rachel had requested to go to the river (for her geology class project), she also set up a team meeting with her geology group and signed up for a Spanish TA session (she has to attend twice a week) and by the time she was done with those, it was time for lunch. And then I had to take the boys to the doctor (they're both growing fine). And then the rest of the day got away from us, so we didn't go to the river or on a run. 

And that's okay, because taking time off from running actually benefits your runs.

But since Rachel did need to go to the river, we planned to do that today. And I figured we'd squeeze in a run, too, since it can be nice to run in a new place (see some new things and all that). So, we went to the river:

I snapped a picture of Phoebe and Rachel together and when Rachel saw it she said, "Wow. My resting face gives off big 'facing the Great Depression' vibes."

These days we can take a full series of photographs, so you can see that Rachel isn't always so serious.

We played at the river for a little while, and then decided—even though it was somewhat drizzly—to head off on our run.

Here are Phoebe, Rachel, and Miriam, hiking back to the stairs:

Rachel watched Zoë, Alexander, and Phoebe at the park while Benjamin, Miriam, and I ran through the rain. I actually don't mind running in the rain, as long as the rain is nice and warm (as it was today...from my perception...). I started running track with my elementary school in Port Coquitlam, BC, where it rains practically every other day. I grew up getting soaked at recess (because they didn't keep us inside when it rained), getting soaked walking home (in spite of rain jackets), and generally just lived a very soggy life. I find running in the rain refreshing (albeit annoying with glasses). Our high today was in the low 60s, which felt plenty warm to me.

My children argued that the rain didn't feel so warm to them since they'd been raised in the south, where 60s is clearly winter weather. 

The run that I felt was invigorating, they felt was pure torture. But they survived!

And, honestly, it sure beats running in the summer!

Years ago John Gillespie observed that I seemed to be a "winter runner." I hadn't ever really considered which season I enjoyed running in, but it's true that Wendy Hair and I had trained for our marathon over the winter—running on the track when days were particularly chilly, and outside when we could manage it. And now that I live in the south, I'd say that I could quickly agree with this categorization. 

However, I don't think I was a winter runner when I lived in Canada. It's simply too cold to run in the winter (for me). 

That said, I think I'm, like, averse to sweating while exercising (or at all) because I just didn't grow up feeling sweaty very often. I was on swim team, and while I know you need to drink water while swimming laps in order to stay hydrated (as strange as that seems), you don't typically feel sweaty when you're in the pool. Because you're just wet. 

And when you're running in—honestly—very mild weather (I mean, just look at these temps):

You're not going to sweat as much as when you're, you know, melting in 100°F heat in 85% humidity. 

So, yeah, I don't run in the summer in Georgia. And I even avoided running in the summers in Utah. 

Like, why on earth would I want to get hot and sweaty?

I love summer. I love sunshine. I love flowers. I love pool time. 

But, like, I'm not going running in the summer. Even hiking (at least down here in Georgia) is a stretch in the summer. It's so hot and humid. 

Autumn is where it's at. I didn't ever know that I really enjoyed autumn. The switch from summer to winter in Alberta can be quite abrupt, and since I didn't really enjoy Alberta winters, it meant I also didn't enjoy Alberta autumns. But here fall is long and luxurious and really quite enjoyable. So we'll run through the fall, through the winter, and into spring. 

But when that humidity hits us...no thanks.

Anyway, here are my soaking wet children:

Rachel sat under the pavilion and read a book while the kids danced in the rain. And when we got home we threw a load of wet and muddy clothes into the washer.