The regulars are not out

Another Patriot's Day with no re-enactment or marathon, but it's a little closer to what one might expect. The Lantern service at Old North last night was mostly streamed from remote locations (not happening in the sanctuary) but four of us (including Arthur, ringing for the first time since the frozen shoulder began in 2019!) rang for fifteen minutes and the sexton flipped the switch that turned on the signal lanterns. Then a quiet night at home, with no increased traffic on Mass Ave, no musket fire before dawn, no parades or fund-raising pancake breakfasts. I'm about to make pancakes in our own kitchen, instead of walking to the Baptist Church in the center (which serves breakfast on real plates and tableware, instead of plastic), and will send them a small donation, which we also did last year. I have often participated in the five mile race on Patriot's Day morning, starting and ending at the green. It has happened for over 100 years, missing out only a few war years and last year. This year, the Lion's club (the sponsors of the race, who use the proceeds for their sight preserving projects) set up a virtual race. There have been many other virtual races all around in the past year, but I've only done a few. Usually, the Lion's club race has an option to register teams, and for a number of years members of our UU congregation have formed a small team. This year there wasn't a space for that on the reservation form, but three of us ran together yesterday, an alternate route that included a bit of trail running and small side streets instead of big ones. Still five miles. I am much slower than I used to be, and slower than almost everyone else who has posted a time, but I should console myself with the reminder that it's still faster than walking, and it's nice to be able to race at all.
We didn't crowd into a group photo, but here I am after the race, next to our house. The hat has the Lowell Spinners Canaligator on it. The Spinners are currently in limbo, after MLB got rid of a lot of minor league teams.