Wandering

Caught another break today with some high clouds and a temperature in the low 80s for the morning run. Rather than pick a route beforehand I figured I would run between 7-8 miles and go where my feet took me. I ran up to 291, then back down Flintlock, took a left to go up to Pleasant Valley Baptist Church, then back to Flintlock and Target before setting my sights on getting home. The morning was quite humid and I kept the pace deliberately slow, especially on all those hills where I tend to speed up. I walked the big hill on Flintlock on the way back for almost four minutes, but I knew I needed to rather than killing myself on it. It was a smart move. Overall I went 7-1/3 miles, which is an odd number, but basically I just ran until I got back to where I normally end. I could have added a little more to get to 7.5, but why?

Yesterday I was looking at a map of the area online and noticed a "Ancient Family Cemetery" in a very odd place just off Flintlock. There are some newer apartments on the west side of the road just south of where the new library is going in. When I reached that area I walked into a small grove of trees on a little hill and sure enough, there was an old white marble marker. It was about three feet tall, rectangular, with names on each of the four sides. The oldest was someone born in 1784 (I think) who died in 1829 (or 1789-1824, can't remember which since I was in the middle of working out). The others were from a similar timeframe. I had no idea it was there until yesterday and I've driven and run by that area hundreds of times. It was a nice surprise and very cool that whoever has built up that area left it untouched, kind of like a hidden treasure in the shade of the trees.