~15.6 mi @ ~14.3 min/mi

"Adventure, danger, and art!" Molly delivers all three in a Sunday morning jaunt around Takoma Park that includes an under-construction bridge ("The 'TRAIL CLOSED' sign was facing the other way, officer!"), rock-scramble exploration of Long Branch, impromptu poetry reading, and lovely new public-space painting. DST Day begins with an old crescent moon, dawn temps in the upper 20s. Sligo Creek Trail leads to Molly's 'hood.

A playground bulletin board near the county line features an adaptation of Alison Hawthorne Deming's "The Web", an ode to Nature and connection. Frost glitters on grassy meadows. "It's called the Mole Mural!" Michael Kirby is the artist for a tromp l'oeil glimpse of Underground Takoma on a wall at Prince Georges and Conway Avenues. Nearby a tree-sculpture lady reaches for the sky.

Back at Molly's home, "My husband is in the coop!" (He's socializing some chickens.) Upstream on dirt trails leads to the source of Long Branch. Then bushwhack, leap Sligo Creek, pick thorny seeds out of socks, and close the loop on a crisp morning.

(trackfile) - ^z - 2018-04-04