This morning I was scheduled to run eight miles. This afternoon I was to attend a funeral. In between the run and the funeral I was hopeful to do some house cleaning…actually more housework than time would allow. During my run I was thinking about all I wanted to accomplish afterward…just like the good Type A girl that I am.
I run on a system of greenway paths so I never know what I’ll see out there: people with cute dogs, dogs with cute people, deer, snakes, bugs (cicadas, anyone?). But today I saw the Cutest. Thing. Ever.
At my six-mile point I saw a momma duck walking across the path in front of me with six teeny, tiny chicks behind her. The last little fella struggled to keep up with its siblings. My heart melted. Remembering what I recently wrote about slowing down, I stopped running, whipped out my camera phone and turned off my stop watch (hey, I’m not so Zen that I wanted to have my recorded run time penalized for taking a photo). By the time I did this the ducks were off the paved path and into a thicket. I waited and waited until they got into the water. I bet I stood around for two minutes or so. That’s an eternity when running.
Finally the little family was in the water at the opposite side of the river from where I was standing. This photo is terribly grainy and you’ll have to squint to see the ducks.
Trust me. There are ducks in this photo.
The photo quality is not the point. The point is I STOPPED long enough to watch them walk around the thicket and glide into the water.
I. Slowed. Down.
482gr8 