Shamrock Run

Today was the 30th anniversary of the Shamrock Run in Portland. Today was Rachel's and my first time in the run. I signed up for the 5K Run and Rachel for the 5K Stride.

We had agreed to meet, as we did for our last race, at the Sunset Transit Center and ride the MAX to the race start. When I arrived at Sunset (10 minutes late at 6:55am) Rachel had already purchased our tickets. Good thing too, since there was a huge line and one broken ticket machine! 7:05 found us Eastbound on the train and sitting by a heater. We were spared the rain but not the cold.

Since I had picked up my race packet and T-shirt the day before at Lincoln High School, all I needed to do was find the Port-a-potty line and wait for the start. Rachel stopped by will-call and got her bib. The 5K started at 8:05 and the Stride at 8:20, but on different courses. We
snapped photos of each other and shivered while we waited for my start. I have never run this particular course in Portland before and soon realized that it was basically the reverse of the Race for the Cure. In other words, the course goes UP Broadway..................all the way up to Harrison! WOW! Then is when I realized why there were very few other "gray-hairs" on the course. This was truly a younger person's race.

I finished significantly before Rachel was due to complete her walk and went to claim my bowl of clam chowder included in the price of the run. Something hot felt very good in the cold, misty air and my soaking wet running shirt. The beer looked good too, but I was way too cold to imbibe. You know I was cold to turn down a free beer!

I anticipated that Rachel would finish between 9:25 and 9:30am. I made my way to her finish line and immediately spotted her 20' from me. My watch said 9:27am. Good guess! I snapped her photo and we made our way back to the MAX stop, boarded the train and were back a Sunset Transit before 10:00am. What a way to travel in the city!

Our next race/walk is April 6th: The Race for the Roses. More photos then.

We Begin to Begin Again

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Because I rarely take time off work, I managed to max-out my PTO. We are allowed to accrue only 240 hours (that's 30 days!) and we stop accruing until time is taken. So, I decided to take 3 days off in the hope that I could work in my yard. I must have guessed correctly because yesterday and today were just beautiful. Sunshine and mild temperatures allowed me to be outside all day.

My little house is built on what is basically a basalt mesa. Whatever top soil I have is mostly either black, sticky clay or mulch that has clearly been imported. Dig 6" down and the shovel hits bedrock. I have wanted to add depth to my vegetable and flower beds since the first time my shovel clanked against basalt. Yesterday I pounded some shakes into the ground along the border so the area could hold more soil. I looked at them overnight and decided they were way too high. So, this morning I took them all out, set up my Skil saw and sawed 8" off the thin ends. They look much better at this height. I like the way the shingles seem to be a reflection of my fence. It fits well with the already weathered look. Plus, I used the sawed-off portions of the shingles to edge another area as well as to enclose my potato bed. I even planted my potatos!

Even though it will likely rain next week (and water the potatos & sweet peas I planted) it looks like Spring in upon us. My plum tree has a billion little buds on the branches and the daffodils are blooming in the front planter. Now, if I could just keep the deer from eating my tulips before they bloom, I would have many lovely blossoms to see.

Late this afternoon I had a furry visitor to my backyard. I have seen this kitty walking on my fence before, but I have never seen him/her actually in my yard. The kitty strolled around for awhile and didn't really run from me, but also wouldn't come to be petted. I retreated to my kitchen and looked out the window a few minutes later to see him/her curled up on top of a shell covered pot. I snapped this photo thru my kitchen window. This does not bode well for growing flowers in that pot this summer. The photo, however, will make a lovely greeting card.