What a Colorful World! - Color Run 2013

Another year, another Color Run. This time, in Baltimore, Maryland.

And it was under threatening cloudy skies that we ran for our color on May 11^th.

After threading through the National Harbor on a beautifully sunny day last year, it was hard not to feel at least a little disappointed looking at the weather forecast in the days leading up to the race. How would the colored powder hold up to the rain? Clearly our only fate was to emerge from the course as caked, mud colored, powder monsters.

The morning of the 5K arrived and there was no rain. We climbed into the car armed with coffee and many towels to clean the pending mess and there was no rain. We arrived, drove in circles till we found the parking lot. and there was no rain.

Waiting, corralled in a stretch of open asphalt with an extremely flexible and enthusiastic Zumba instructor, and there was no rain.

Every K that passed brought another layer of color, and wonderfully, still, there was no rain. Not until the finish line came into view did the first drops fall. Light and scattered. Polka-dotting our skin and turning each one of us into a work of splatter paint.



This made the race-end "mosh pit" celebration party even more fun. Every color packet thrown became a mix of powder, paste, and paint on every fold of clothing and patch of skin. And also, made for some great photos. Coughing through a haze of cornstarch, it was a technicolor world.

(And also a great place to snap a few engagement photos for our partners in crime!)

Turns out in the end, the rain brought its own brand of fun. I suppose any good cliché movie ending could have told me that. Each drop adding to the texture of color from another wonderful experience with some great friends.

Goofing Off in History

I’m a sucker for RenFests. Ever since I went to my first one in a far off cornfield in Ohio during undergrad, I was hooked. As I’ve said quite frequently, I’m a big history nerd. I was that little 5th grader giggling into a book about Greek mythology or the 7th grader who begged her parents to take her to Medieval Times for her birthday or even the 20-something seriously looking for a partner in crime to go to the Colonial Williamsburg living museum. Any opportunity available in which I can get my hands on some shred of history (even commercialized or slightly bastardized), I’ll do it. And I’ll jump in with as much gusto and dedicated enthusiasm as my 5th grade self all those years ago. This year’s trip to the Maryland Renaissance Festival was no different.

Step one for a RenFest is absolutely the costumes. I fully expect myself to have a complete costume eventually, but for now I settle for the cheap target tavern wench costume with an upgraded bodice I found at a garage sale. There’s no better way to get into the period of it all like physically putting on the clothes of the time. Not to mention, ladies, who doesn’t secretly want to know how skinny your waist will look in a corset.

The other reason for dressing up, besides getting to wear something other than modern clothes for an afternoon, is that you blend in with the crowd; allowing for the best people watching you will encounter. There are all kinds, shapes, and sizes wearing all kinds, shapes, and sizes of outfits. And you can tell that everyone is just having a great time. No judgment, no worries, just unadulterated character egged on by the very interesting people who run the stands and put on the shows.

For example, if you’ve ever wondered how a Medieval court functioned, all you have to do is sit on a bench and take up a yellow sign. Labeled as a Witch or a Thief or, in our group’s case, a Traitor, you can watch the full extent of the law (complete with red ribbon guts and wooden stocks) reign down on those you know or drunken strangers you don’t.

I get a lot of different responses when I tell people I go to Renaissance Festivals—usually jolly and supportive (though skeptical), but everyone has their own preconceptions about what they are and what type of people go there and I’m certainly am not going to change with a few pictures and a blog post. Maybe that means more jousting tournament room for me, or maybe it just means you’ll have to go with me next time. I certainly hope it’s the latter. So please, prepare thyself for merriment!

Scenic Stops

I find it funny how often a person elation at getting out of the gosh dang car when on a long car ride translates into the photos that they take at those stops. Even their shutter trigger fingers are happy to be stretched outside of clicking the "Next" arrow on the iPod or "Play" on the DVD player.

Here are two shots from my recent East coast car rides. I may not mind long car rides but it appears as though my shutter finger and photographic eye certainly did. Happy to be back on nonmoving ground once more.

Road Trips and Rest Stops

Being originally from the flattest of flat portions of this country of ours, I tend to get really excited upon encountering hills. (If you didn't grow up in the Midwest/Planes states, you just won't understand.) This past weekend's road trip through the Appalachians offered 7 hours of mountain geeking out thrills. A quick stop at the Sideling Hill rest stop and a fall photo shoot ensued. A beautiful drive through beautiful country at the most beautiful time of year.

An East Coast Autumn

Apple orchards, pumpkin patches, and hay bales. Oh my!

Or in the case of these photos, mill pond and chicken coop.

My first taste of an Atlantic coast fall came hand and hand with pumpkin picking in a Maryland field; it just reminded me of home.