The Prodigal Daughter Returns

Is it just me or we sensing a theme here?  I write and run, I disappear, and then I come back.  I'm back, at least, for this blog entry.  Whew!  Where do I begin?

It's been almost a month since my last entry and that's mainly due to the fact that we had to move.  Long story short, banks suck, not making enough money sucks, yadda yadda yadda.  We moved to a community in Ventura County called Moorpark. For those of you who don't live in Southern California, it's about 30 miles west and a little north from where we were in Northridge.  We found a great 3-bedroom apartment that is not lacking for anything; in short, we have tons of amenities in our unit and at the complex as a whole.  The city is less expensive to live in, the schools are excellent, and people are quite nice and friendly here.  All in all, we are doing well.  The kids are adjusting beautifully and like their new schools.  There's not a whole lot I can complain about.  In fact, there's nothing that comes to mind.

Anyhow, one of the coolest things about living here is that our building has a river behind it.  Now, for those of you who think of rivers as being rough and rugged places, um, you've not experienced a Southern Californian river.  We like to contain them in concrete.  Yeah, it's classy.  I will say, however, nature is taking its course in taking back some of its territory.  Gabriel and I took a walk back there today as both sides of the river are flanked by dirt paths that stretch for miles.  We saw cranes, ducks, wooly caterpillars, crawfish shells, and lizards.  Gabriel found rocks for collecting and enjoyed throwing rocks into the water.  It was quiet and the sun was shining.

I walked with my Vibrams and I can now say I will be starting out easy running on the paths.  There are tons of little rocks and pebbles and even with the protection of the Vibrams, those rocks are sharp!  My feet are going to have to get used to them before I start running on that surface, but it's going to be so much better than concrete or asphalt.

I'll post pics of the trail and detail how my inaugural walks/runs go soon.  Until then, happy running, people!