night vision

Hey all,

Had a great run with Curtis last night. We did our res. loop the long route. The back side was tough though, since we got that huge dump of snow on monday the running room grp has not been through the trail yet. So it was really rough single track(if you could call it that) which meant we were sliding back and forth off the path(again, IF you could call it that) it was dark but it may just have been a cross country ski path. Either way it was hard on the core, hips, ankles, etc. Towards the end nearing the paved part again(the crazy snowy part was maybe 5k?) I ran under a tree and happened to look up and there was a great grey owl. I've seen lots of owls especially around where I live, but this guy was like only 6 feet above us!! I couldn't believe he didn't fly away. Even when Curtis stopped under the tree he didn't lift off. He just sat there looking around. They are so earily quiet, it's unbelievable. Have you ever heard a owl fly over your head? Probably not because they make no sound, absolutely none!! They are the most incredible hunter. Anyways we stood there a bit, it was dark, but we were so close we could see him occasionally look down straight into our eyes. He seemed to look right through us. I guess with that night time vision and from that distance it's possible. That definatly made up for the crappy footing. I've never been so close to one of them. Amazing. Anyways we finished up our run and headed into the star bucks for a much deserved Venti coffee. :) The highlight of the run, well second highlight of the run. Later,

DP