I’ve been running Schaeffer’s Chapel quite a bit recently.  If I run this route 1.5 times, it is a quick and easy 10 miles.  Sweet!  I get a nice mixture of country road, a little bit of trail, a stretch along a 4 lane highway (the gravel shoulder of the hwy) and then a nicely paved road leading up to the Chapel (the church people use this stretch of road on Sunday and so that part of the road needs to be nice).

Seeing as there is a lot of variation of surfaces and scenery, that means I meet a lot of people when I run this route.

Right now, they are building a new bridge (FINALLY) so I see the road crew almost every morning.  They wave and shout out, “Mornin’ Ma’am!”  I wave back and keep on moving.  This is along the 4 lane hwy and I need to be on my toes.

When I am running the road that goes to the Chapel itself, I often meet the “Grouchy Farmer.”  This guy is a grouch!  He has cattle along this road and is often feeding his herd as I am running by.  I will wave to him and say, “Good morning.”  Some days he will wave back but he will not speak to me.  He is also late feeding his cows and they are mooing every morning waiting on their breakfast.  Poor cows.

More often, now that the weather had warmed up, I have noticed two men down by the slough.  They are fishing.  When I am returning from the Chapel is when I see them because they are way down the bank so they can cast and reel.  We always raise an arm to wave at each other as I toddle on by.

This morning, all of the above happened.  I was heading north on the 4 lane hwy when I notice the guys fishing again.  We waved and I thought to myself, “This is silly.  I’m going to chat with these guys.”

Once I crossed the bridge, I saw the little dirt road they had used to get to the slough.  I followed the road and called out to them when I got close.  They smiled and we introduced ourselves.

Their names are Ned and Ringo and these two men are a stitch!

They are not well to do.  They dig their own night crawlers and then spend their mornings fishing so they have some dinner for that evening.  Good for them for being resourceful.

We chatted for maybe 10 minutes.

Ned is one of those guys who has multiple lines going at one time, so in the little time I was there, he reeled in three fish.  BIG ones, too!  He’s going to have a good dinner tonight!

We talked about how they see me all the time out running.  They confessed to calling me “A running fool.”  Haha!  Yea, that’s probably about right.

They let me take their pic.  They were very gracious and mentioned how they always watch out for me when I’m running that stretch of hwy.  Good guys!

As I took off to finish my run, they shouted out after me, “Have a blessed day!”   🙂