This Lovely Day

So this morning I woke up leisurely, had coffee in bed, and finished reading The Kite Runner; an excellent read but oh so sad. Then, seeing the rain had stopped I went out for a 4 mile run. Some runs are exercise but my Saturday runs are extra, just for fun. I don't normally push myself on the weekend and because the sun is up I can take in the progress of neighborhood gardens and I listen to my Ipod. Well, at about the 3 mile point a slim hipped blond (she could not have been 30) with a bouncy pony tail goes breezily past me and this was at a downhill stretch. (Although, I must say that middle aged caution kicks in when I'm running downhill.) "OK" I think, "She IS younger." but it is really the kick in the butt I need and as I hit the corner of my street (uphill by the way) we are running abreast. I turn, smile, and say "Enjoy your run." and that felt so fine.
After the run I showered and indulged in my other favorite past time, gardening. I went to the West Seattle Nursery's annual fall Open House and bought Cyclamen, Ornamental Kale, a Guacamole Hosta, a May Apple, and a few more yellow Speedwell.
Then after a bite of lunch I took the 125 bus downtown where I went to the barbershop in the Market for a haircut a good gab with my former neighbor and hairstylist, Paige. She is string bean thin, at least 20 years younger than me, has LOTS of interesting tattoos and her currently blonde hair is no longer than an inch at any point on her head, and she was raised Mormon. Could we be more different? In many ways no, yet I think she is 'a dear one', a hard working single mom raising a bright, sociable 4 year old little girl. We had lots of talk to catch up on, she had changed salons, I had lost her number. We had reconnected by chance and I was happy to have my hair back in her hands.
Pike Place Market was packed with tourists and I felt happy knowing this is my city, a place I can navigate easily, and instead of taking it for granted, I pulled my camera out of my handbag and took these few pictures just like the many tourists who were also enjoying Seattle on this lovely November day.