The Colors of Moon Rise

On Wednesday, I had the pleasure of running simultaneously at sunset and moonrise. The colors were were like an artist's water color palette. I was able to enjoy the pale ivory moon rising over the golden mountains in the east and the pastel pink sun setting in the west. A white blanket of fog wrapped itself around Mission Peak. The fall colors along Alameda Creek in the Niles district ranged from bright red to pastel yellow. The colors in California appear more subtle than Minnesota where I hail from. It Minnesota, the colors change almost overnight after the first freeze. In the Bay Area, the colors creep on us day by day.

My youngest son, Zachary said "Daddy, the sky is pink!" He was enjoying the full moon and the sunset as well. My oldest son Josiah on the other hand was asking me if pirates still wear eye patches. I was too interested in array of colors to give him the full explanation of why pirates do not dress like pirates in the movies, but instead dress like normal people, surf the net, talk on cell phones, and play video games. He thought it would be a good idea if pirates dressed like pirates-then nobody would know that they are pirates because people would think that it is just a costume! Kids can simplify everything. I wish I could think like that.

I ran at a nice easy pace after recovering from a cold. It seems like I am always running at a nice easy pace. When I reflect back to my high school days of running, as long as the race was over 2 miles or greater, it always felt easy to me. I make comparisons to running the 400 meter dash at full speed. I have always said that running the 400 meter dash hurt more than running a marathon. I must admit that recovery time for any race is commensurate with the distance. I believe that I can feel the pain of a marathon for weeks as opposed to minutes for a 400.

I enjoyed the solitude of running on the trail with the balmy fall weather. The kids were noisy, I dodged an occasional dog or bicycle as I watched the colors fade with the sunset. By the time I reached home, I had the LED flashlight turned on. This weekend the weather forecast is for sunny weather with temperatures in the 80's!