A Breath of Fresh Air

The alarm went off at 6:30 am and I opened my eyes to discover......it was light out! I love standard time. I wish daylight savings time would go away forever, but I'm just happy it's over for a few months. Since it was Sunday, I didn't have to hop out of bed and I got to watch the sunlight stream in the window for awhile before I finally got up for my run.

I ran 4 miles this morning under blue skies.



At noon, I persuaded my daughter to get out of bed (she was at the midnight showing of Zombieland at the Strand Theater for Halloween) and got everyone into their hiking boots. We hiked the Blue Hill Trail in the Pharaoh Wilderness for a couple of hours. It was a perfect day for hiking. Bright light spilled down through the trees. The air had a nip to it, but it wasn't cold. Everything looked brilliant!


We found a newt on a rock by a stream and some cool fungus. I kept my youngest amused looking for all the colors in the rainbow. He's been carrying around my husband's old camera and he took pictures of the colored things we found.

Here's a red leaf...



and some orange fungus...


and a blue trail marker.


















He lost interest after blue, but stayed out of trouble anyway.

My daughter hikes much faster than the rest of us, then she has to wait for the rest of us to catch up. I'm trying to convince her to try trail running.

Days like today remind me of why we came to live in the Adirondacks. Days like today also tire me out, especially because it's 9:30 pm, but my body remembers that last night it was 10:30. It also remembers that my daughter needed a ride home at 1:45 am, and this body didn't sleep until noon. Fresh air kept me going all day. Hopefully it will help me sleep all night.

Hauntings

The Halloween festivities in Schroon Lake started today when the elementary school kids paraded down Main Street in their costumes. This was, of course, my first time witnessing the event, and I was pleasantly surprised by some things I noticed, such as:

1. Unlike our suburban New Jersey school, the kids are allowed to wear scary and/or violent costumes. Now, I'm not saying that we should glorify violence or anything, but, come on, it's Halloween. It's supposed to be scary. Sorry, but there's no way a Disney princess can scare off an evil spirit. I was happy to see a couple of first grade vampires, complete with dripping fake blood.
2. The kids went out and interacted with the people in town. This was a very nice change from doing loops around the school parking lot. People who didn't have children in school came out and watched just because it was fun. Let's hear it for inter-generational connections!
   
3. The businesses along Main Street got into the spirit of Halloween. Business owners and employees dressed up, came outside and handed out candy to the kids as they passed. These same businesses regularly support the PTSO and the booster club. I appreciate businesses that give back to the community (and I remember that when I shop).
4. My six year old has a new girlfriend, whether he wants one or not. Apparently she found his Iron Man costume very appealing. That's so cute.

Since Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, I've been really happy to see lots of decorated houses around town. I'm looking forward to taking my son trick-or-treating tomorrow. My teenage daughter will be out there tomorrow night, haunting town with the rest of the after-dark crowd until the midnight showing of Zombieland.

Next year, when we are settled in the new house, I am throwing a Halloween party. This year I'll just enjoy my kids' Halloween.

Boo!