Running the Stevens Creek Trail is beautiful this time of the year. Especially this year. The rains have been aplenty and the creek is swollen with the bounty. The normally burbling creek is roaring. The water is gray, flecked white where it tumbles over some rocks or over drops in the creek floor.
Wild blue elderberry is in blossom and dots the trail in many places. 
Since our return from India, I’ve returned to running the trail a
little more regularly. Last week, I finally ran three times, something
I haven’t done in a long time. I ran 7 miles one day and 7.5 miles the
day after.
When I first ran the trail last year with Maya, she hadn’t even begun to walk. This year, she is running and walking with ease. I let her down at the turnaround point and let her have a little run. There are two steep side trails, with loose soil and pebbles to make it a little slippery, that take us closer to the creek. Maya ran up and down the steep sections, not even accepting my hand for support. 
One section had large pools of water across the trail. Maya carefully navigated the sections, inching her way along the side that was dry till she was completely across. “Good job, Maya!” she shouted exuberantly when she crossed the last pool.
A couple of mallards swam furiously away and Maya cried out happily, “Quack quack. Quack quack”.
The day I snapped these pictures, the sky was an intense blue. Though the sun was out, there was a bite in the air. But the bite will soon be gone. As will the roar, and then the creek itself will dry up all the way to the bay. When they’re back, Maya will be a year older, maybe even running sections of the trail with me. I stand still for a while with Maya, staring at the creek, trying to hold time, knowing full well it cannot be held, only lived.
