Spring is Here

Several things today made me confident that spring is here to stay for a while.

- A canopy of leaves has appeared over the forest road near my house. They make a pretty dappled pattern when the sun shines through them.

- Leaves equal shade, which is a good thing considering temperatures over the weekend. I lay out in the sun for about thirty minutes this afternoon wearing only a swimsuit and came inside sweating. I had to take my second shower of the day...a cold shower. It felt good.

- The trees also seem to be producing quite a lot of pollen, evidenced by the light yellow dust on every car parked outside. Fortunately, my car is beige. Unfortunately, I left all the car windows open last night and as a result there is pollen covering the inside of the car as well as the outside. Fortunately, I am not allergic to pollen.

I think this week I'm supposed to be focusing on physical wellness. I started a pattern of going to the gym every morning, so that's good. I decided to start training for the Crazy 8's 8K run that Kingsport's Fun Fest holds every year. I didn't run last summer and felt like I missed out. Anyway, it's more fun to exercise when you have a goal. The local track club has a training plan for newbies ("Trotties" Workouts - love the name) which lists a series of intervals to walk/run each week (e.g. walk three minutes, run three minutes, repeat five times). Eventually you're running the whole five miles. So I'll begin that program this week. I'll also try not to eat so much sugar. Ohhh boy.

And another spring thing - I got my tax refund! Maybe I'll buy some running clothes.