boys of summer

listen close and maybe you can hear don henley singing "boys of summer" while i type. walked gail to the train station early this morning and then headed north around the train loop and over to the oxford canal and went north and just kept going. legs were tired after three straight harder runs, not something i would recommend, though i had reasons for doing them. just stayed on the trail and ran past the punt boats and backyard gardens and let the bikes going to work slip by me going south.

about an hour up the trail and past wolvercote and summertown i got off of the trail to see what was around and ran through a rather "posh" neighborhood of young adults and children - passed at least two all day nursery's. (don has moved on to "dirty laundry". love this song. anyway, i did a quick trip around the neighborhood and then ran back to the canal. stopped and stretched for a bit and then headed south. nice and simple. had about an hour back and enjoyed the sunny day and the warmer temps, but the legs were not all that fresh. but not that far to go -funny how an hour can seem short after awhile.

back down the canal past the same stuff going south this time, the bikes passing me without warning of course. at port meadow i decided to get off just to see the wild flowers that grew along the train trail. ran up the hill and the slope felt good so i went back down and then did it again and turned through the parking lot at port meadow and went down the train trail.

as happens so often here as i started down the trail and the wildflowers were all blooming in their colorful splendor i could hear and then see the huge lawnmower machine coming up the trail and cutting them back from the trail. ("heart of the matter" is on now- a great song.) smelled good but was funny that they were cutting them down after i got off to see them.

anyway. kept going smelling the cut stuff for some time down the trail and cut over at the train station on the new temp bridge and was turned back by construction and went back and down the trail and just took the long way home. worked ok. a little over two hours in total. a nice run even if tired. will go short or not at all tomorrow.

homeward bound and did laundry and started to pack and throw stuff away and make up piles to give away with little name tags. dealt with some internet issues as email wasn't working but the web was. took a break to hit golf balls with gordon who was also at the range and after we chipped some i went back home to keep packing. cleaning up and tossing stuff out.

and that was the day. one less to go and we are running out of time. 4 more things to sell or give away and will trash the rest. what do you want to hear now? ("lying eyes" it is.) i can listen to old music all night long and have done that a few times here. one night i listened to two neil young concerts and an hour of kate wolf-interesting contrast. pretty song.

market day tomorrow and the post office. also the phone company- stopped to top my phone off as i might have mentioned and there were about 35 students trying to buy phones. gave up and bought a mcflurry instead. trying to keep my weight up right now.
actually we have eaten pretty healthy here but not enough variety as some things are just hard to get.

not quite midnight now and have some things to do. have to be out the door at 6am tomorrow so off i go. hot days ahead here. will be good to be home, but will be back in the uk next summer i am sure. maybe cambridge next time. ireland and france coming up in sept this year also. ("peaceful easy feeling" if my brother reads this he may remember the time we drove across the states and stopped in winslow, az to see what it was like. i have that picture etched in my brain still. wasn't what i had anticipated.

good luck to texas and mexico with the hurricane coming their way. ( had to listen to "take it easy" and there is winslow now-)

searching for balance somewhere. have to keep typing so i can listen-"already gone" and the eagles look so young as they sing. does this bring back memories? but joe walsh wasn't with them in this version. these guys could play though. enough i know.

neil young and "four strong winds" and i am out of here. but first "hotel california". night all.