Spring has sprung!

The last few days have been quite wonderful for my soul.

The temperature has been climbing, and the sunshine has been peeking out more and more. As the snow melts away, so does my anxiety about the winter months. My little herb garden has started to sprout; I can’t help but smile when I see the little chives and sweet basil starting to peek out from underneath the dirt.

I was able to catch lunch with my good friend Kimmy yesterday. We went to one of our favorite places here in Stevens Point, Cafe 27. Kimmy has all sorts of food allergies (poor girl!) but Cafe 27 has a bunch of vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options. Plus, they have great food! I picked their salad trio, which has a few salads made with some of my favorite things- different grains and vegetables mixed together. Kimmy was one of my very first running friends to encourage me in my crazy endurance journey, and I’m continually amazed by the progress that she makes. She’s so inspiring! 🙂

The river is thawing out, making paddling a little easier. I went out for the second time yesterday afternoon, and was able to paddle around quite a bit! I spied a Current Designs boat in the water from across the river, so I paddled over to say “hi.” I met Ken, an avid paddler/nature enthusiast and a darn nice guy. I’ll keep an eye out for his green hatchback when I’m putting in by my house! During this time of year, the river is flowing quickly, with new currents and water patterns. The river isn’t open enough for any motorized watercraft, and only the daring paddlers break through the ice to dip their paddles in for the first times in the season. The wildlife is quite vocal- especially those darn geese! I swear, one goose can make enough noise to scare me off. I think they’ve been spoiled by the winter months, and the peace and quiet that comes with the colder temperatures.  The little joys of being a paddler always surprise me early in the season… the peaceful power I demonstrate by loading my own boat… the droplets of water on my windshield after I load a wet boat… admiring my scraped up Valley logo on the side of my Avocet. Fun times have been had, and I hope that this season brings even more adventures. ❤