Story that doesn't end with me punching a mountain lion in the face.

So I decided to try running at Holden. I spent a long time thinking this was impossible, not to mention undesirable, it being winter and cold outside and moreover snowy and icy by turns. But as it happened, I strapped Yak-Trax onto my trainers and did just fine jogging down the road in the direction of Lucerne. I might have gone half a mile. Not much, but it was a beginning.

There are lots of things to think about on a walk (or a jog) in the woods by yourself. At Holden, though, before you get to thinking of any of them, you have to sort out what you're going to do just in case you meet a mountain lion.

Statistically, in this area of the Cascades, there's one such beastie every hundred square miles. That means there's likely one between the Village and Lucerne (there is; I've followed its tracks), another between the Village and Lyman Lake (haven't seen his tracks), and one more between Lyman and Image Lake (followed his tracks for a good long time -- bit unnerving).

The Saturday morning of my run, I did not see a mountain lion. No tracks, either. I did, however, work out that should I see one, my options are (1) look very, very big and loud and scary, (2) go for the knife I'd forgotten to bring (damn), (3) land a well-executed round-house kick, or, the classic defense, (4) punch it in the face. Then it was on to thinking about casting for the spring production.

Since that Saturday, God has remembered it's winter and dropped a few inches of snow on us. But I hope this wasn't my first and last run of the season. If any mountain lions get in on the action in the future, I'll let you know which defense works best.