Weather - 36 degrees, cloudy, raining. 36 degrees and rain is normally not a good combination, but riding my bike home from work in the rain felt pretty nice, so I was looking forward to my run. I did not have a plan for the run, I just wanted to get out the door and enjoy the interesting weather. I first ran to the park and Busey Woods and did a loop, admiring all the colors of the leaves - on the ground. Especially beautiful were the bare ginko trees. Unlike other trees, the leaf of the ginko falls consistently straight, and the weight of the leaf prevents them fron being blown around. Thus a clean circle of yellow leaves surrounds the base of the trees. Today I saw numerous Ginkos surrounded by a ring of yellow color, which made me stop to admire the odd mixture of late autumn gray/brown with bright yellow. I was feeling good after the woods loop so I decided to run to the arboretum. Once there I decided to head to the South Farms, and I enjoyed the muddy starkness of the dirt road and empty fields. When I was cutting through the harvested corn field a flock of crows flew into the air and I stopped to watch them battle the wind and the rain. The gray sky and rain, the large black birds, the "caw caw" sound, the muddy muted colors, with me standing solitary in the middle of a large field, reminded me of Van Gogh's last painting, and I once again felt the heavy melancholy of the season. I shook my head in awe and continued on with the run. I ended up doing a full loop of the South Farms, and I finished the run in front of Jimmy John's, so I stepped inside to get a #6 veggie sandwich. I walked home, sandwich in hand, eating and grinning in the rain, my hands getting cold, and the wetness finally beginning to chill me. I was looking forward to a hot bath... #361
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