Observations from the Trail - Winter Edition

It is Winter and now Runners Mecca - AKA Manasquan Reservoir Trail - is barren. The trail is hard. The trees naked. The cold wind appears to swirl from every direction. It is now home to the hard core folks who just plain love the outdoors no matter what the temperature. Back in the summer I wrote about my observations on the trail and now I would like to share some more as winter is introducing itself to New Jersey. I also have labeled people. We all have labels in some way - good and bad. Any labels below are not meant to be bad just as a way to identify characters within an observation.

• Camouflage bicycle guy - I've seen this guy in the summer and he appears to always be wearing camouflage while riding his bicycle. In the summer it worked because he blended in with the trees - worked for what I don't know. In the winter, he is no longer camouflaged since there are no leaves or greenish brown vegetation. He now needs to wear grays and blacks.

• Dog walker shorts guy - At first glance, this guy looks like a tourist. He has binoculars around his neck, a walking stick, shorts on and a dog by his side. The two days I saw him the temperature was in the 20s. I can run in shorts when the temperature is 35 but he was walking. I admire this guy though. He was friendly always saying hi. He was with man's best friend, his dog. He was exercising using his walking stick to go further down the trail. With his binoculars, he was paying attention to life's detail.

• Running dog guy - This guy runs with his dog but it looks like his dog paces him. They are both fleet on their feet. However, when a dog's gotta go, he's gotta go! So I am running down the trail, see the guy stop and move to the side with the dog. You know how dogs are. When they have to poop, they look sheepish, turn some away from you and squat. Then they turn their head slightly back, tongue kind of hanging out (he was running, mind you) with this dual expression of "hey, look at me now!" and "I'm a little embarrassed by this" and do their thing. It was funny to watch especially making up things the dog and runner guy were thinking.

• Doggie play dates - As you see, there seems to be a theme here which lead me to initially believe that dog walkers were hardier than runners because on the really cold days, there were more dog walkers than runners. Each day I see four women walking 5 dogs in a group which appears to be a doggie play date. The dogs know and look forward to the arrival of the others and the women talk to them about their little buddies. The tails wag and the excitement is evident. Wouldn't it be nice if people enjoyed seeing each other like the way dogs do - no expectations, just the love of being together. I also saw another group of women with their dogs on another day which begged the question, "why are there no guys walking dogs in play groups." So to not insult women or men, I will keep my thoughts on that to myself.

• Do ducks' asses ever get cold? Yes, I know, they have feathers but that water has to be really cold.

• Hatless guy - When the temperatures were in the low 20s, I saw an older guy who needed to be wearing a hat. Oddly enough, I saw the same guy a few days later when the temperature was in the high 40s wearing ear muffs. Maybe his ears were numb when it was 20 so he couldn't feel them anyway.

• Nature and friendliness - I still proclaim that the people who frequent the Manasquan Reservoir are the friendliest in New Jersey. New Jersey needs friendly people and I have seemed to have found a place where the congregate. I believe that the beauty of the reservoir brings out good feelings in people - being in nature, outside of their home, outside of their office, exercised and energized, being with their dog buddies, other runners, walkers and camouflaged bicyclists. Nature is the best of what God has made, the purity of it all, the beauty, the elements of sunshine and snow. I need the four seasons to experience it all - new life in the spring,, summer swelter, fall foliage and the dormancy and rest in winter just to start the cycle again in spring.

I hardly mentioned runners here but they did appear again on Saturday and Sunday. Generally winter runners are the hard-core runners that make running a lifestyle. The freshness of a winter run is incomparable to the rest of the year - the quiet solitude, cold air that makes the tongue tingle, the views through the naked forest - all capped off with a cup of hot chocolate with those tiny little marshmallows in it. Now that is a run worth having!