3.35 miles
locks and dam no. 1
12 degrees
99.9% snow-covered
It snowed yesterday. 5.5 inches of soft, powdery stuff. Today it’s colder and the snow has compacted. With my yak-trax it wasn’t too difficult to run on. No slipping. Tiring, though. And beautiful! For the first mile, the river was open and then it was covered — one half had ice and snow, the other sparkles.
10 Things
- sharp, dark shadows — mine, behind me for the first half, in front for the second
- the only bare stretch of pavement was on the biking side of the bridge, up against the wall, where it is sheltered and covered in dead leaves
- encountered at least 3 runners
- the loud voices of some construction workers, joking with each other
- a deep cough by one of the workers
- everywhere, small ledges and wedges of snow
- some dirt sprinkled on the path to make it less slippery
- the bones of fallen trees, covered with snow in the ravine
- a bench on the hill above the edge of the world, at just the right angle to face the sun
- a screeching bluejay high in a tree
I’m working on a section of my poem about form. At some point during the run, I thought about searching for forms that can hold my words — but not too tightly — and my messy, layered thoughts and feelings. Earlier this morning, I was thinking about partial forms and illusory forms and unreliable forms — the fuzzy forms my brain creates, the unnatural form of the river. I haven’t quite figured out how to tie them all together.
As part of my focus on forms that seem natural but aren’t, I’ve been thinking about and trying to find an article about the Apostle Islands and re-wilding. This morning I finally found it again! The Riddle of the Apostle Islands