Thankful Thursday ~ Soundtrack of the Prairie

Happy Thankful Thursday, everyone! I hope you're all having a great week! The weekend is just around the corner!

What do you think of my new Thankful Thursday post header?

First off, you may have noticed that my blog looks a little different. I was a little tired of the previous look and so I'm working on tweaking it. You'll probably see a bunch of changes throughout the next little while as I keep working on finding a new look that I like, and adding features. Let me know what you think. I don't really know what I'm doing, so input and advice is greatly appreciated!

Next, a bit about my new Thankful Thursday image. I'm going to start each Thankful Thursday post with that picture because I like it, and for uniformity's sake. It's the inside of a "Mind Jar," which we made at school this past week. We were exploring the Virtue of Peacefulness and this was one of the projects/crafts we made to go along with that. I just think it's so pretty and it makes me think of a lot of the people and things I am thankful for, so I think it's appropriate as a header for Thankful Thursday posts. :)

Everyone's Mind Jar, all in a row. So pretty!

I got my Thursday started off right this morning with an easy three mile run. I don't run with headphones or music when I run outside. When I lived and ran in a town, I never went without music, but since living out here, I've made the change to running with my thoughts and nature as soundtrack. Jeff originally suggested that I go without headphones out here so that I could hear a rattlesnake, if there were one rattling. Sound advice, although, ironically, I have never actually heard or encountered a snake when I have been out for a run! (Jeff HAS...)

At first, it was really difficult for me, mentally, to get used to running without music or podcasts. Music especially was a motivator for me while running, and sometimes a distraction. Over time, however, I've grown accustomed to not running with music. I think I'm more in-tune with how I'm feeling as I'm running. I think I'm mentally tougher because I don't have the distraction. Most of all, however, I've grown to really enjoy listening to my surroundings. As I ran this morning, I had no idea what I'd write about for today's Thankful Thursday post, but as I kept plodding along, Meadowlarks and Mourning Doves cheered me on and made my run even more enjoyable. I realized that I am really thankful and glad to have their songs as the soundtrack to my run!

The Western Meadowlark is actually the State Bird of Montana so that makes it even more special to me that I get to listen to him sing. I feel like the Meadowlark is welcoming me to his State and to the prairie. Jeff was just telling me the other day that the Meadowlark has many songs and spent some time pointing a few of them out to me as we listened. Here's a great video that not only shows the beautiful, bright-colored appearance of the Meadowlark, but also shares several examples of his song:

Carol and Tom also have this really neat ceramic Meadowlark in their garden. Ok, I'm a bit biased because I gave it to them! But it's probably the closest I'll get to photographing a Meadowlark up close!

I've also been hearing a lot of Mourning Doves lately. These birds are common all over the country and I remember seeing and hearing quite a few of them in our backyard growing up in Ames. Some people confuse their cooing with an owl's hoot, but it is a little different:

I also see and hear Pronghorn Antelope frequently on my runs. Did you know that the Antelope is actually the fastest North American land animal? It's second-fastest in the world after the Cheetah. Pretty cool, huh?! We have them in great numbers around here. This time of year, the does are having their fawns. It is a very rare treat to see an antelope fawn in it's infancy-- I've only seen one or two since living here. But recently when I was running, an Antelope doe was acting sort of strange. I came upon her in about mile 2 of my 6 mile run and she ran just a bit ahead of me and then stopped and looked at me. As I approached, she took off another 100 yards or so, then stopped again. This went on for about a mile of my run. Jeff had told me in the past that sometimes if a doe has a fawn, she'll act this way to try to lure predators away from the fawn, who is likely curled up in the grass somewhere. Her pattern of running ahead and sort of baiting me was unmistakable and it really kept me entertained for about 10 minutes of my run that day.

Kind of hard to see, but this is the antelope doe that ran with me a few weeks ago.

Antelope make a funny but distinctive sound, too. It sounds sort of like a cough, or a person clearing their throat. I couldn't find a good video with the sound, but National Geographic has a great fact page on Antelope with an audio button you can click to hear their sound. With that doe on my run the other day, I may not have initially noticed her if she hadn't coughed. Again, when I first moved here, I don't even remember noticing the Antelope sound. Now, I again find that it's a common component of the soundtrack of the prairie.

Sometimes, too, I am serenaded by the "sweet" sounds of coyotes if I run in the mornings or evenings. We're pretty sure there's a den in our pasture, so hearing coyotes is pretty common. Here's a video of a coyote pack howling at night. If you have a dog, you may want to pay attention to it's reaction-- when I played this, Harvey became very interested!

Ok, so "sweet" probably isn't the right word to describe the sound that coyotes make, but it is more and more becoming a sound I associate with my home on the prairie. So, in that sense, it's sweet to me.

I'm thankful that I get to live and run in such a place that has really great nature sounds. There's also the sound of the wind in the grasses and fields, and of course, the sound of the dogs who accompany me on my runs! It makes me happy to hear their feet padding along in the gravel or grass and to hear them panting and breathing next to me. Harvey, Iggy and Abby each come along on runs sometimes. Harvey is definitely my number one running buddy!

Harvey! Harvey is fast and he likes to be first!

Iggy is old, but he still likes to come along and plod at his own pace.
We officially adopted Iggy this spring. He's a Saint Bernard mix.

Abby is Tom and Carol's Golden Retriever. She never stops smiling!
Out of all three dogs, Abby is the one who is closest to my running pace. 

Do you run/walk/hike with headphones or music? Next time, I challenge you to take them off and notice all the sounds that you hear. You might be surprised at the richness of the soundscape!

Today was the last training run before my Governor's Cup 10K race! I am so excited to do this race! I haven't done any "official" races yet this year, only virtual runs, so I'm really pumped to get the racing season started. Jeff and I are leaving tomorrow morning for Helena and I just can't wait to get down there and start taking in the entire event! I am doing the 10K and Jeff is doing the 5K on Saturday morning! In the spirit of today's post, I wonder what the sounds of the race will be? Anyway, wish us luck!

What are you thankful for this week? What are you looking forward to this weekend?