Hey Kids,
As you all know I love to run on the Saddle River Trail. If you look back through my blogs I did a detailed report on why I like running there. As I said in that post there are a lot of dogs and birds that motivate you. Now if you’re like most people and just said, “Dogs and Birds to Motivate? Have you gone mad?” If you did not just say that try it now in your best High Society English Accent…
…you’re welcome 😉
YES Dogs and Birds! When your doing a long run and getting tired they can be there to pick you up. I have found one of the best things for me is seeing a large dog, usually a lab or Golden Retriever just Tearing into a body of water!!!!
If you’re lucky you get a party!
Dogs are how people would be if the important stuff is all that mattered to us.
—Ashly LorenzanaÂ
It makes me smile and reminds me to “Ama Audaciter! “= Love Fiercely!
Birds:
Now not as fun as dogs but equally important. For those of us who have grown up here in the greater NYC area you can agree that the abundance of wildlife that surrounds us today was not always present here.  The current amount and variety of fowl, water birds, birds of prey, foxes, deer, bears, coyotes etc. is  pretty amazing.  When I was a kid Canada Geese ruled the day and a deer sighting was rare. This increase in wild life is something to be proud of. It means that we are creating and maintaining a healthier environment for our children to grow up in. Seriously, I saw a Bald Eagle perched on a log in the Passaic River in Paterson, twice! Good job all!
Any way, I have seen a variety of birds flying and hanging out in the Saddle River as I run. Usually Blue Herons and Egrets, or king fishers (pictured Below)
They are very calm and stoic. On a few occasions they silently glide in gracefully at eye level from behind me on the river. It’s awesome.
Without waxing poetically about the mental health benefits of running, (I’ll save that for another post) I have learned to be mindful in every day situations and try to learn lessons from these seemingly mundane experiences. On my last long run I was thinking a lot about our current topic of dogs and birds and I wondered why my mood and demeanor is instantly elevated when I see them, even while running a ridiculous amount of miles?
Dogs and birds are the quintessential example of balance in personality, at least for me. The dogs I see bounding into the river remind me to be fearless, playful, mindful, true, honest, accepting,  inclusive, sincere, alive and free. Carpe Diem! The Birds remind me to be committed, patient, stoic, vigilant, noble, quiet, strong and steadfast. So what I will be mindful to strive for is the balance of the two:
Not to be confused with a real bird dog, that is just ironic.
 
More like this !
HA!
Got a 10 mile run planned for today but Im tired so I may just run tomorrow.
Don’t forget we are $600 short of our goal! Please donate to honor Eddie and Freddy and help the AFSP and/or encourage others to do so as well! Thanks all
https://www.crowdrise.com/afspnyc2016/fundraiser/jonathankinne
Word of the day: bird dog |ˈbərd ˈˌdɔɡ|
noun -a gun dog trained to retrieve birds.
• informal a person whose job involves searching, esp. a talent scout for a sports team.
verb( bird-dog ) [ with obj. ]
search out or pursue with dogged determination: he ordered the vice president to bird-dog Congress for funds.
Unicorn of the day:
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