I had a mostly excellent weekend, with a nice balance between getting stuff done and having fun. There were even a few surprises along the way, like the cemetery I came across Saturday afternoon when I decided to take the scenic route to the Title 9 Blowout Sale which was in town for the weekend (not my town, but close enough). This graveyard was a very cool place, with a lot of old headstones to spark my imagination and make me wonder about the lives of the people buried there. What of the three Eddy brothers who left Michigan to fight in the Civil War and died one by one in Virginia? (I assume they were brothers, having the same last name and being buried right next to each other, but maybe not, as one was named William and another Willard and those seem rather similar names to be given to sons born only a few years apart.) What happened to the son of R. & P. Root, who died in 1854 at age 31 even though his parents were obviously hardy stock, his mother lasting 85 years on this earth and his father 93? (93! He must have been one of the oldest guys around in 1873.) Who decided to put “None were purer, few were fairer” on Lorinoa Johnson’s headstone? Why bring up the prettier women at all? Like I said, a lot to ponder there.

There was not as much to ponder at the T9 sale. They didn’t seem to have as many shoes and bras as last year, and since shoes and bras are pretty much the only things I fit into from T9, I didn’t find much to buy. I was able to get some of their XL pants over my hips this year, though, so that’s an improvement. I think I may just keep buying my fitness wear from Target even after I’ve slimmed down enough to fit into T9 stuff, though, as a way to thank them for clothing my butt for running even when it was above average in size.

After finishing up at the sale, I stopped by the Knit A Round yarn shop, where they were having a scarf-a-long as part of World Wide Knit in Public Day. Introvert that I am, I was hesitant to take a turn on the scarf—I’m not a regular customer of the shop, I didn’t know any of the ladies there, I’d never used needles so big, etc., etc.—but I managed to ignore that voice in my head (the same one that had seen the group sitting outside the shop when I first pulled into the parking lot and suggested maybe I should come back another day—it’s very shy, this voice) and sat down in the circle of knitters. I thought I’d only stay ten or fifteen minutes, but ended up enjoying myself so much I was still there an hour later when it was time to bind off the scarf because the shop was closing.

Another thing I enjoyed at various times over the weekend was watching the goings on in my backyard, which appears to have been turned into some sort of a groundhog daycare center. These little furries are great fun to watch as they explore the big wide world—scampering across the lawn, trying to climb trees, squeezing themselves between the fence posts and the fence, scaring the occasional fox squirrel. I’m not sure how many there are because they keep disappearing under the shed and behind the raised beds then reappearing later. At one point, I saw five out at once, and they were all smaller than the big one we’ve seen from time to time. I don’t care that they’re eating some of the plants in the yard, but I suppose I should probably investigate what damage they might be doing with their burrowing.

Sunday’s big excitement was a 5K race. I was worried about the heat, so Saturday night I dug out my magic crystals cooling bandana, soaked it in water, and then put it in the fridge. I wasn’t sure I would wear it in the race, as I hadn’t tried running with it before, but when I saw how sunny it was Sunday morning I decided to give it a try. It did bounce around oddly for a bit but once I got it tied right it was fine, and I think it did help, as I finished with my second-fastest 5K time ever, 28 seconds faster than the race I did in May and 51 seconds faster than I did this same race last year. If I’d started my end of race push a tiny bit earlier, I could have broken 37 minutes, but I’m happy with my 37:03. I was planning to take the summer off from races because I am so prone to melting, but now I’m thinking I may not since I felt so good about this outing.