May the 4th be with You

Of course I'm going to post on Star Wars Day, people. Anybody know what the deal is with runDisney's Star Wars "Light Side" Half Marathon weekend? It's usually held in January, but registration still hasn't opened yet. It's odd because the Princess Half Marathon isn't until February, but that registration process has already opened.

That's all I have to say about Star Wars today.

I went running this morning. First time in a LONG time. It went about as well as I could have expected. Worse, actually, but I'm not too worried about it right now. I'll improve. There's a lake near me that offers the closest thing to a 400m running track open to the public (I've mentioned this before, but the high school tracks are kept locked down here in FL). Crescent Lake is a ten minute walk from my house and actually has a 1.10 mile loop, so I decided I'd try training there this time around.

I haven't done one of these types of posts in a while:

THINGS SEEN ON TODAY'S RUN

• One of my kickball teammates. Oh yeah, I joined an adult co-ed kickball league over the winter. Our team was decent, but we didn't win the season. The summer league starts up again next week, and I've been recruited to play shortstop again. Anyway, I was only moderately embarrassed to be caught running so slowly by someone I know.
• A lady walking her cat. Ok, she was actually walking her dog, but her cat was following closely behind her. Kitty didn't want to be left out of the fun happening at the lake.
• A Florida softshell turtle. They say they only come out of the water to lay eggs.
  
• Quaker parakeets! I haven't seen these guys in quite some time, and I just chalked it up to all the various ways people are ruining the environment around here. I didn't get a photo of the ones I saw this morning, but here's one I'm borrowing from the internet.
• Ducklings   

Speaking of birds, I've acquired a lovely pair of Yard Doves over the last week. 

What is a Yard Dove, you ask?  Well, it's one of those birds they release at weddings that are referred to as doves, but are actually just white homing pigeons. They are trained to fly up to 500 miles back to their original home once released - doves just aren't smart enough to do that. 

One of these little birdies showed up last Wednesday night, and I went outside to inspect further, as I did not recognize it as a typical Florida bird that hangs out in my yard. When I went outside, the bird didn't retreat as most birds usually do. He just went about his business, continuing to eat whatever seeds he found out in our lawn. 

He's been back every day this week, and showed up with a mate on Monday. So I guess we're wedding dove owners now. We've affectionately named them Dovey and Pidgey McDoveFace, and Ben's already looking into how to get into the wedding dove business.