Rancho San Antonio Open Space Preserve

Imagine every shade of green laid out in front of you, stretching away till the eye can behold.. That in short is Rancho San Antonio Open Space Preserve :-).
We had our morning "short run" there (don't really know how these people call 4 miles short!! ) .. The entry to the park is a labyrinth in itself, and navingating that is no mean feat for any one with a good/bad sense of direction.
So I found myself in its parking lot some time at 6:00 AM on a super fine day -- Sun shining mildly, but not managing to penetrate through the maze of branches and shrubs, birds chirping, a small stream steadily gushing away, trying to drown the birdy cacophony but inadvertantly complementing it to create a lovely white noise pattern really soothing to the ears, and other equally drowsy fellow runners similarly entranced.
Just when we thought the park was all lovely, we see a small yellow sign - instructing us what to do if you happen to come across a mountain lion -- it actually has instructions to fight back! I always thought that if you met a member of the feline species other than a cat, all you could do was stand still, or well, try to break the world record in running!
We were all really cold, we'd underestimated the place, so to keep the cold away rather than actually train, we started running.
We crossed a wooden bridge, and immediately came across this place called Deer Hollow Farm, which has enclosures for goats, pigs and what not! Guess most of them end up at McD or Burger King ? :-( . A little further on, you can see a rabbit, mindful of the multitudes of pattering feet, yet sufficiently secure in its own territory and the fact that no one (one == human) is going to cause harm. Deer cross your path non-chalantly and it seems so normal that the only time you actually stop is to stare at the cat that crossed your path.
Running never seemed so effortless and beautiful :-), trust me.