Day 34

29F when I ran this morning, only managed 2.8km today, my legs were a bit sore still, from the 4k run on Sunday, perhaps.  I felt a bit pathetic actually, hope they are stronger tomorrow.  I'm sure they will be.  It was snowing lightly while I was running, and at one time the sun struggled out, and in South Africa we call sun with rain a monkey's wedding, so maybe this was a groundhog's wedding, with the snow glittering in the sunlight as it fell through the air.  I surprised the resident red-tailed hawk, it took off swiftly from a tree right next to the meadow-entrance as I came in, large and beautiful.

I heard the strangest sounding bird, calling again and again, and when I ventured towards the sound, making Molly stay, walking on to the snow-covered icy crust at refridgerator corner, I was stopped short by the sight of large male shoe-tracks in the new snow.  Amazing, this fear that is always with us as women, this fear of strange men, especially in lonely places, especially if you are South African.  I even thought he might be making the sound of the strange bird to lure me!  So I ran back fast, and every time I came back into the meadow for that loop of the circuit, I was wary and watchful.  I have rarely seen anyone in the meadow in 5 years, occasionally there will be a Dunkin Donuts coffee cup carelessly left on the bench, or there will be ski-tracks from someone cross-country skiing.  Once there were two men who were workers constructing a long driveway to a house just down from Heartbreak Hill.  They said they were interested in hunting deer, and asked me if I had seen any.  I said, "Oh, no, maybe once or twice" (I loathe and detest hunters). Then they both looked at me and asked if I had seen any "with a big rack" and I thought they meant a large buck with antlers, and they did, but they were also having me on about breasts, about my breasts, and they kind of sniggered to one another nastily.  I left quickly and when I was out of their sight, ran home as fast as I could. It is pathetic that we should live in such fear of the other half of society.  It is one of the things which outrages me.

And I had to clean the house today.  I drew this image on the dusting of snow on the trampoline, in case I didn't have time for a regular drawing tonight.