10 Hens & A Tom

My brother, bless his heart, is a last-minute kind of a guy. He calls Monday afternoon, "Alaina, can you do me a big favor?" Ok, I respond, somewhat hesitantly. "Can you watch C.J. tomorrow so I can take Mandy out for her birthday?"

Yes - this is not a problem. Mentally I flip through my schedule for Tuesday - run and softball practice. I was secretly hoping he'd say, "I'm making dinner, come on over!" So I cancel out on softball and decide to run my 4.5 mile hill-workout before work. That means getting up at 5:30 a.m., driving to the area with a nice hill to work out on, and getting back home in time to shower and go to work.

Surprisingly, I woke up Tuesday morning and tackled this challenge. It's a bit scary running along the Mississippi River in pre-dawn light. At every creak in the trees and rustle of leaves I thought it was some wayward soul coming after me. I didn't see a soul for 45 minutes - but what I did encounter was truly magical.

My first spectator was a Minnesota loon swiming quietly along the banks of the Mississippi. Then there were the big, fat red-breasted robins, annoying white seagull birds, and a "herd" of ducks. On the second half of my workout I saw a serene blue heron and a swimming otter, or was it a beaver, in the lake? But my biggest group of fans were the 10 hens and a tom.

As I made my loop around the park, I committed myself to doing my last "hill-work out" (running up the hill at full speed, over the top, to build endurance) by the marina - a formidable incline for this novice runner, and about 0.2 miles long. As I started up the hill, I saw a second diverent path that followed along the river. On that path, I thought there were bird-like statues guarding the entrance for motorized vehicles - how clever, I chuckled to myself. But I was wrong. As I got closer, I realized these were real life birds - turkeys!

My fiance tells are great story about turkey hunting and calling in big Toms. So, I gave it a try as I jogged by. *blolololololgh!* The turkeys cocked their head sideways at me. I called again. *BLOLOGLOGLOGH!* They didn't even skitter away, I was just as out of place to them as they were to me. But oh, the giggle I got seeing those unsuspecting visitors.

It was well worth getting up early and working out so I could watch my nephew, Carter Jace. He's able to jump now, and babble some coherent words. But watch out, when you ask for a kiss, he only puckers up and plants one on your lips (not your cheek!).

Sorry for the absence of blogposts... major life changes taking place... expect more details in the next week.