Pokeweed and a Willow Tree

Before my 6 mile hilly run this evening, I took this picture of something called Pokeweed. It has begun to develop berries. They are poisonous to mammals. Birds eat the berries, but their hard seeds remain in tact within their digestive systems. The seeds do not remain in this state in mammals and are therefor toxic. I have Photo-shopped this image to be much brighter in color. A tree has been removed from the lower left and replaced with more sky.

Shortly before finding the pokeweed growing near my garden, I took this picture of a weeping willow tree. With a bit of "stretched imagination" one might see the famous Horse-Head nebulae in the Constellation of Orion!

This celestial object is just barely visible to the naked eye. It is located in the "sword" just underneath Orion's 3-star "belt." This is the Horsehead nebula.

Shaker Road Pond Life

Today (Friday, July 15) I ran late in the day. These pictures were taken in the late afternoon on the course I most often run: Shaker Road. About 1.3 miles into the run, there is a pond with much plant (and animal) life. The first image comes just after the woodland entrance to Shaker Hills golf course about 1/4 mile away from the pond life. The final picture comes at mile 5.5 on the 6 mile run. Data for (yes) tonight's run is as follows: 6 miles in 54:20. I ran at an easy 9:03 pace per mile. Part of the delay in my getting to the run had to do with a VAST amount of time spent on taking better pictures of tonight's full "Buck" Moon. Although I learned several new things about using my camera in night scenes, I will hold off on posting these since they are more experimental than beautiful

Lilly pads with white flowers [below]. Picture taken with macro (close up) setting while standing on a slippery log in the water. This composition was approximately 18 inches away from the camera lens.

This red-berried shrub with delicate, green leaves in strong late afternoon sunlight caught my eye. I've not been able to identify it yet, but for now it will be my nameless woodland red-berried plant.

I took this photo below of Staghorn sumac (not poisonous) at close range [12"]. I learned that these berries have many uses, one of which involves making lemonade!

This image of what appears to be leaves and leafless branches against a light blue clouded sky is actually a complete reflection in the pond's smooth water surface.

This narrow vertical image of blue-violet flowers [found below the water's reflection was configured to be narrow with the camera itself. No cropping in other words. There is so much to be learned about cameras and photography! (and now, as I discover "nature" on the run, plant identification as well!) This tall, plant will be added to my growing list of nameless varieties for which I think I will develop some "to-be-identified" list soon. I'm thinking my list may consist of my own names / descriptions, rather than the "correct" botanical or common names.

This final picture is of something we may be more familiar with. It is variegated Hosta. I liked how the leaves looks so healthy with vibrant light and dark greens. On close observation, flower stalks can be seen with budding light violet flowers at their tops.

A Rest Day from Running

I took this picture of a sunset in Harvard this evening. I rested from running today.

This evening's easy 4-Mile run

I ran an easy 4.0 miles from home on the newly paved Littleton Road at 8:15 pm. The pace was 9:01 per mile. It was cooler this evening and there had been some earlier strong thunderstorms which finally broke the heat wave. The sunset was beautiful behind strong grays and whitish blues. The wind had picked up and carried random remaining raindrops in it.

Looking for images is an interesting task. I came upon some beautiful flowers on Ayer Road in Harvard as the sun was setting before my planned 4-mile run. I've wanted to capture images on the routes I run, but must confess there is only one image in today's collection which satisfies this requirement. It is this first images below and is called Juniperus horizontalis 'Blue Rug' or Creeping Juniper. This evergreen plant variety was introduced to us in 1914 by a man named Jacob C. van Heiningan of Wilton Connecticut. He selected it on the island of Vinal Haven in Maine. This plant is part of a relatively new (and formal) condominium complex planting at entrance of a new road called Snake Hill Road. It comes at about mile 0.75 on my run

These other pictures below were found on another favorite running route on Poor farm Road in Harvard, but were not actually part of today's running views. I include them here simply because they are now in bloom and will likely be viewed in a few more days.

Cone Shaped flowers in a group

Queen Ann's lace - font view:

Queen Ann's Lace side view:

Tall Pink Phlox:

The Near Full Moon over the Track in Harvard

The quality of my night images needs improvement! This near full moon lit the track quite well where I did my first six 800's with 2 x 400 jogs between each. The total distance of the track workout was 6.5 miles. The full moon will come in about 2-3 days. It was very humid tonight. Jets flew quietly overhead (quite high up still) on their flight path to Boston's Logan airport. Some came close to hitting the moon!  It is always nice to run with moonlight. The silhouette of the structures are those of a condominium complex as seen from the track - not shown in the foreground.  When I first moved to the town of Harvard, this was not a condominium complex.  It was a very large pumpkin patch where birds called out at night and where rabbits ran among all the pumpkin leaves in the daytime.

Moonlit 4-Miler

Tonight I ran 4 miles late after work. The waxing gibbous moon was very bright. I took this picture about 15 minutes before the run at home. I learned a bit about the MANUAL setting on my digital camera, although it appears I need a tripod to steady the camera during the 2-3 second time exposure.

Flowers on my 12-Mile Run

Today I would like to begin my story with pictures taken before my first long distance run [in a long while!] The run was 12 miles. There pictures were taken at a location which could be considered the 2 mile point or the 10-mile point in the out-and-back course from Harvard, to Bolton, Massachusetts. Like the late afternoon sunshine during the run, these colors were very strong. My time for this first long distance run was 01:52:52. The pace was 9:24. The scenic course had about 20% moderate to rolling hills. I felt this one in the hot sun and, at times, had to work hard to keep it going. I set out water at the 5.8 mile mark before the run. The running time included two stops to drink water - each about 30-45 seconds. A good run with heavy breathing in the hills. No muscle problems. Strength improving but feeling the new higher weekly mileage now.

Part of the 12-mile course looking north (on the return route: Mile 9 or so)

Daisies

Pink Flowers (nameless for now but beautiful for what they are without a name]

Hydrangia Flowers [early and later develeopment]

Yellow Lillies

Blue-Violet Campanula 'Coral Bells'

red roses