Signs of Spring: Wildflowers

We have been blessed here in northern Ohio with two gorgeous days in a row — and by gorgeous, I mean it’s picture perfect and warm enough to wear shorts (even when you’re not running).

I’ve taken advantage of the nice weather and run pretty much all over the place.  The picture to the left is along my favorite running trail — the needles from the evergreens make a nice soft carpet for running on.  As usual, I take my camera along just in case I see something worth shooting.

(I carry my camera — a very thin Olympus point-and-shoot model — in an ipod case strapped to my arm.)

There are signs of new life and spring everywhere.  It’s hard to believe that a month ago there was two feet of snow on the ground.

Here are a few wildflowers I stopped to take pictures of along my running route:

Along the suburban areas of my regular running route, I also passed quite a few nice gardens with beautiful spring flowers:

And then of course there are deer everywhere.

the white deer

I came around a curve into the last mile my run on Saturday morning. This last mile is straight and goes along a fairly busy 35 MPH road. I run this section on the sidewalk.

It was overcast and fairly warm (warm enough for shorts and a t-shirt), but I also put on my windproof/waterproof vest because it was drizzling and very windy (24 MPH sustained, 32 MPH gusts). Other than the wind and the fact I didn’t get much sleep again because of that darned pinched nerve in my shoulder / elbow, the run was fine and uneventful.

As I start down this straight stretch, I look ahead about oh say a third of a mile or so and I see the large white hindquarters of an animal. Now at first I think “is that a DOG?” I sure hope it isn’t, because if its is, I’m in trouble, that’s one big pooch. Then I saw a tail swish and I thought “is that a pony??” Now I live in the suburbs so people here don’t have ponies. As I came a little closer, now maybe a quarter mile away, whatever it was entered a backyard behind a house and left my view.

I got a little closer — 200 yards away probably — and then I spotted two white-tail deer in the backyard near where I had seen the white critter. It was a doe and a pretty nice sized buck. Now, I live half a mile from a very large park so deer are real common (although bucks are fairly rare). Ah, I thought. My eyes — and tired brain — must have been playing tricks on me; what I saw must have been the underside of one of those deers tails.

Mildly disappointed that there was no pony (hey I’m a girl, we ALL love horses), I entered the last half mile of my run.

It was then I saw the “ghost deer.”

Just 50 yards from me was a pure white buck with a nice set of antlers. And he was pretty big. He was all white — very white, not gray — except for a small patch of brown on his shoulders.

I about did a doubletake and almost tripped over the sidewalk. I see deer probably on 4 out of 5 runs, but never in my life had I seen a white one. They are always brown or tan or gray. Not WHITE. I don’t think I have ever even seen one with white patches or spots (other than the small spots on a fawn of course).

But there it was: a white deer.

The two bucks — the brown and the white — must have been pursuing the doe because they now engaged in some really crazy behavior. They dashed right into that busy 35 MPH road three or four times, bounding from one side of the street to the other. Luckily after an initial near miss, traffic stopped and as I continued to run I could see the astonishment on faces and people pointing at the white deer.

Eventually the deer (now only maybe 30 yards from me) dashed back into the woods and disappeared. The encounter lasted maybe a minute.

And people ask me why I run. <!–graemlin::)–>

(On this same run, I also saw a pair of barn owls which was very cool too.)

The Buck

I was coming to the end of my run today. Legs were feeling good (its always a big question mark when I step out the door how my mischevious calves are going to act and behave). Breathing was fine. I was probably at mile 5.8 of a 6 mile run. And then I came around the turn and saw it.

A buck.

Not just any buck, mind you. This large white tail deer was standing dead center in the middle of the road. Tall and handsome, with a set of huge antlers. We both froze. The buck snorted. Steam came out of his nose. He wheeled around and dashed away.

I am quite used to seeing deer on my runs — but its always does, never the bucks. This was a real treat. This is one reason why I am a runner.