You Can Observe a Lot by Watching

Yogi Berra said that to his players in 1964 when he was managing the NY Yankees.  The ball players were not paying attention to the game.


I sort of applied Yogi's wisdom to my walks at on the Suwanee Creek and Ivy Creek Greenways.  I have been walking there for over 10 years now.  Except for the squirrels and the deer, haven't seen much wildlife.  About a week ago that all changed.  We spotted the Owl at Suwanee Creek.  Since then we have been observing a lot of wildlife.  So Yogi was right.  You can observe a lot by watching!

What we have seen in the last week:

Yogi was right!

The Owl at Suwanee Creek

I was mad at myself for not bringing the camera.  Most of our daily walks are on the Suwanee Creek Greenway.  It's about four miles long so and out & back provides us with plenty of daily steps.  The one thing that has really stood out recently, the amount of wildlife we spot, pretty much every day.


Two days ago we spotted an owl perched on a branch.  As we came around the corner we saw the owl descend from the branch to the creek below.  Its wingspan was impressive.  The owl did exactly what I see the birds in my backyard birdbath do, bathed itself.  I was mad that I didn't have my camera with me.  It would have been some great shots.  I promised myself, tomorrow I will bring the camera.


Amazingly so, the owl was there the next day!

Zion Half Marathon (Race Recap)

Springdale, Utah
Saturday, February 23, 2019

Half Marathon #39
Weather - sunny, very cold, 10 degrees F at the start

About seven or eight months ago got a text from my son about a half marathon out at Zion National Park. It's put on by an organization that does races at various Nations Parks - Vacation Races. It looked interesting.  He and his wife were interested in doing this race so I said if they wanted to do it, I'd join them.

After agreeing to do the race the thoughts that went through my mind though - February - winter - Utah - cold.  Hmmm...  I am not a big fan of bitter cold, let alone doing half marathons in cold weather.  However, their website listed average temperatures as 33 - 60 degrees F. That convinced me that it would not be too cold to do a half in February.


Average weather listings are funny things.  They may or may not be true on the day you are there.  Well, this apparently was not an average year as the temperature at the start of the race was 10 degrees F!!!  It was sooooooo cold!  


As typical, weeks, days, before any race, I'm always checking the weather forecast.  There was no doubt in our minds, it was going to be unseasonably cold.  This lead to the purchase of balaclavas, hand warmers, and thoughts of layers, layers, layers.


We had to get up very early (4:00 AM-ish) to get to the race as we were staying in an Airbnb in Orderville, about 45 miles away which included going through Zion National Park (in the dark, a very interesting drive, icy roads, a very winding road, meaning you were not going to go fast at all).  We did make to the starting line which was in Virgin, UT.  The race was a point-to-point race from Virgin, UT to Springdale, UT.  Although the race is called Zion Half Marathon, the course was not actually in the park.  The finish line was a couple hundred yards from the entrance to the park.


The other thing that was unique about this race, a point-to-point race, it was all uphill!  So between the cold and going uphill the whole time, I knew I would probably not be able to finish in my self imposed (secret :) goal of three hours.  No worries though, just finishing would be good enough.

 Scenery was incredible!

 ~Mile 9, warmed up to about 20 degrees! 

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Fun, senior sidebar note:  Since our Airbnb was on the other side of Zion National Park, during our stay we made five trips through the park.  It cost $35 each time our vehicle entered the park.  However, since I purchased the Senior Lifetime America the Beautiful Pass a few years back, we did not have to pay the $35 each time, got in for 'free'.  What a deal!