Beyond Recovery Run

Usually I try to get in a recovery run about three days after a marathon, but this time life intervened and today's run was five days after.  I felt great this afternoon, temperatures were in the mid-40's with sun and modest wind, so I had a great walk, running whenever I felt like it.

Splits: 24:30 (1.96 mi), 25:06 (2.04 mi), total 4.0 miles in 49:36, pace 12:34.  It'll do for today.

Life intervening: Wood Duck House

Male Wood Duck in tree.
Image courtesy Wikipedia

This is the time of year that the wood ducks show up in Minnesota.  They are arguably the most beautiful of all ducks, they roost in trees (yep), and they nest in a cavity in a tree created by some other creature, including and especially a "cavity" created for them by a human.  Mom wood duck manages to hatch all of her eggs at once, then stands on the ground and calls the chicks.  The fuzzy little newborns "fly" out of the nest, falling and bouncing unharmed to the ground one by one, and when she has collected them all she marches them off to a nearby lake or pond, where they will grow to adulthood.

Materials list available
upon request

Wood ducks were once endangered, almost extinct, but thanks to better hunting regulations and partly to thousands of artificial houses made by humans, they are now thriving.  It's a treat to have a wood duck family around, especially if you happen to be there to see the chicks come fluttering to the ground based on nothing but trust in their mother's call.  To persuade a mom to choose your nest box it has to be there in early spring, hence my urgency.

This morning I completed the construction of a nice new house within easy view of our living room.  Our neighborhood is a bit more urban than a wood duck might prefer, but maybe we'll get lucky and someone will like the nice new house anyway.  Not that she will care, but it's pretty much all cedar and stainless steel, so if there are no takers this year it will be there next year too.