Gravel and ghetto?

Got up early this morning to hit the road - er, I mean gravel - and had a really good run.  I was surprised to see that the gravel road on my new route was wet when I approached that part of my run and was even more surprised to see that it had been (very) recently graded.  Scraped to smooth the wavy, corduroy-like surface... and loosen all of the stones that were so nicely packed into the road on Tuesday.  This slowed me down ever-so-slightly and I stepped on a particularly large piece of "gravel" and rolled my ankle a bit (not the one that I sprained a few weeks ago) but was able to easily recover from my misstep.  Interestingly, the 2nd half of my run was faster than my first.  Usually it's the other way around!

Seen on my run... anybody home?

I think I mentioned the couple of interesting houses that I passed on that road in my last post.  I paused long enough to take a couple of photos this morning (I'm blaming that AND the loose gravel for my slightly slower speed today) just because these kinds of things fascinate me.  This is a country road and on the other side of both of these building is a farm field.  They are not part of the same property so it seems like an unlikely place for the kind of graffiti displayed here, and the house looks fine, with the exception that everything is overgrown and it's empty.  It makes me wonder what happened that we ended up with these two places so close to my neighborhood.  Is the empty house a result of foreclosure?  Did someone move away and they just weren't able to sell it?  Did someone pass away and no one else in the family wanted the home?  And what about the colorfully tagged building just a few doors down?  Is there anything in there?  What was it used for?  There is a house fairly close to it that is occupied and looks well-kept... does it belong to them?  Who put the graffiti there?  It's nice that the scenery gives me these things to contemplate while I am running.  The time flew by!  Oh!  And my fastest song was by Marilyn Manson!  Who wouldn't run a little faster away from him?

Seen on my run... I want the story!

I saw no wildlife (or even domestic life) this morning.  Okay, I saw a few robins, but that was it.  And only one vehicle that was out and about went by me.  Must be the first day of summer break.  Great!  Now I wish I was on summer break!  daydreaming...  snap back to reality...  The temperature was awesome, at only 54 degrees with a tiny breeze that was just enough to keep me cool.  Humidity wasn't bad either and my run was very enjoyable.  Not sure what my route will be on Saturday.  I'm looking forward to going out early and then heading to Rochester Hills with friends, so I doubt that I will venture far from home.  Sunday is a longer run, then off to visit family for Father's Day.  I'm SO ready for the weekend!